Saturday, April 17, 2010

Volcano continues to ground flights as ash cloud spreads over Europe

CHS students are supposed to fly from London to USA Tuesday morning, but airspace is scheduled to be closed through Monday.

[from The Guardian] Thousands of travellers are facing continuing misery after the suspension of flights in and out of the UK was extended until at least 7am tomorrow as the cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland spread across Europe.
The National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said the situation was worsening amid warnings from scientists that the eruptions from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano could continue for months, causing unprecedented travel chaos.
British Airways announced in light of the latest update from Nats that it had cancelled all long and short-haul flights in and out of the UK tomorrow.
The European air navigation safety agency, Eurocontrol, said only some 5,000 flight would take place in Europe today compared to 22,000 in normal circumstances. A spokesman said the situation was not expected to change tomorrow.
Last night hopes had been raised of some respite from the disruption, which began on Thursday. Airspace had been opening across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, and Nats had said there may be a window for some domestic flights before 7pm today.
But this morning Nats said it was "most unlikely that many flights will operate today", with forecasts suggesting the ash cloud will begin to cover the whole of the UK after 7pm. Passengers were urged to contact their airline before travelling.
"The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland is moving around and changing shape," a statement read. "Based on the latest information from the Met Office, Nats advises that the restrictions currently in place across UK controlled

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