Iceland Volcano erupts again ; disrupts flight ops

Ash from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull again caused the closure of airspace in Ireland and parts of Britain for hours on Tuesday, but this did not impact flights from India to Europe or the UK.

When Eyjafjallajokull erupted on April 14, flights to and from Europe were disrupted for about a week, leading to widespread chaos at airports around the world as passengers remained stranded.

On Tuesday, an increase in volcanic activity resulted in a fresh ash plume being pushed about 5.5km into the air. Due to wind conditions, the cloud moved towards the northern parts of the UK.


Airlines in India, which have services to the UK, said they are monitoring the situation and haven’t cancelled flights. “We got to know that there is no problem yet and have not cancelled any flights to London or the rest of the UK,” a spokesperson for Air India said.

A private carrier, which has recently started flights to London, said they are operating normally. “We are carrying extra fuel in our planes to London and Europe in case there are diversions,” an official from the airline said.

Flights in much of continental Europe were operating as normal and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said it would allow flights to resume from Irish airports from 1200 GMT after a closure lasting six hours. However, the IAA said northerly winds forecast for the coming days could bring more clouds of ash from the Icelandic eruption and disruption for passengers this week.

“We could be faced with this periodically during the summer,” IAA CEO Eamonn Brennan said. “We are probably facing a summer of uncertainty due to this ash cloud.”