Further disruptions from the Icelandic ash cloud appear unlikely after forecasts suggest the Grimsvötn volcano has ceased to emit ash into the atmosphere, this will be welcome news to Scottish airports along with airlines British Airways, Ryanair and Easyjet.
The cloud had caused disruptions to 250 flights earlier in the week but further disruption are not expected for the upcoming bank holiday weekend. The president of the United States Barrack Obama made his visit to the UK earlier to avoid the cloud when he arrived at Stansted airport late on Monday night.
Other travellers opting to go early were the Barcelona football team who face Manchester United in the Champion league final on Saturday night. They weren’t scheduled to fly to London until Thursday but opted to arrive on Tuesday amid fears of ash cloud disruptions.
Showing posts with label Ash Cloud Latest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ash Cloud Latest. Show all posts
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Monday, 17 May 2010
More Ash Cloud Chaos
The Uk returned to the ash cloud mayhem that it saw last month as both Heathrow and Gatwick were forced to close last night, as the latest ash cloud again caused massive disruptions to the travel industry.
The majority of the UK Northern airports were closed along with Scottish airports as the airlines fears were confirmed when the decision to close Gatwick and Heathrow was made. Though the airports have now re-opened there are more delays expected today.
Richard Branson the CEO of Virgin Airways has blasted the closures and insisted there was no evidence that jet engines would be compromised in the ash clouds as all test flights reported no problems. He also added that the over-reaction was beyond a joke, comments you can understand what with the massive losses airlines are suffering.
BA is expected to announce a £600million annual loss this year and with the latest wave of cabin crew strikes set for tommorow you can understand the frustration of the airlines, talks are being held today between the union Unite and BA in an attempt to avert more strike action
The majority of the UK Northern airports were closed along with Scottish airports as the airlines fears were confirmed when the decision to close Gatwick and Heathrow was made. Though the airports have now re-opened there are more delays expected today.
Richard Branson the CEO of Virgin Airways has blasted the closures and insisted there was no evidence that jet engines would be compromised in the ash clouds as all test flights reported no problems. He also added that the over-reaction was beyond a joke, comments you can understand what with the massive losses airlines are suffering.
BA is expected to announce a £600million annual loss this year and with the latest wave of cabin crew strikes set for tommorow you can understand the frustration of the airlines, talks are being held today between the union Unite and BA in an attempt to avert more strike action
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Fresh BA Strike Imminent
Unite have announced that it will carry out four separate 5 day strikes which are in the same time period as a UK bank holiday weekend, school half term and the start of the world cup, the first planned strike will take place on 18th May-22nd May with more strikes planned for 24th May, 30th May and the 5th June.
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh has condemned the strikes but insists Gatwick and London city airport will operate as normal with Heathrow will still run a substantial number of flights.
Unite officials have stated the strikes can still be averted if BA return to the negotiating table with meaningingful intent, however BA have already set about putting contingency plans in place for the upcoming strikes including leasing planes and putting passengers on rival airlines.
As the pay and conditions dispute rumbles on it is thought the main sticking point now is cabin crew workers want their travel perks re-instating after they were removed by BA as punishment over the first two stikes which cost BA £45 million.
At a cost of around £7 million a day a 20 day strike would be an enormous cost for BA to absorb added with the current ash cloud problems you wonder if the cabin crew workers would have jobs to come back to.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Airports Re-Opened
All Uk airspace was re-opened this morning as the wind changed direction and took the fresh ash cloud away from the UK enabling closed Irish airports such as Belfast, Dublin and Derry and Scottish airports Glasgow, Edinburgh and Prestwick to open its doors once more.
Uk airports such as Leeds Bradford and Manchester were on standby to close but thankfully the change of direction in the wind eased fears and the go ahead was given to open closed airspace.
The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) stated the no-fly zone imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority was lifted after the volcanic ash cloud moved west overnight and has now cleared UK airspace, it will continue to work closely with the CAA and the MET Office to track future safety concerns.
Uk airports such as Leeds Bradford and Manchester were on standby to close but thankfully the change of direction in the wind eased fears and the go ahead was given to open closed airspace.
The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) stated the no-fly zone imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority was lifted after the volcanic ash cloud moved west overnight and has now cleared UK airspace, it will continue to work closely with the CAA and the MET Office to track future safety concerns.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Northen Ireland And Scottish Airports Closed
As reported yesterday fears over the volcanic ash cloud hovering over UK airspace have been confirmed as this morning Northern Ireland and airports in parts of Scotland including Glasgow closed in what is a replica of the beginning of the previous six day airspace closure.
Glasgow, Prestwick and Derry are expected to be closed most of the day and although Edinburgh is still currently operating it is expected to close in the afternoon along with Belfast airport.
The airports are doing as much as they possibly can and busses are transporting passengers from Glasgow airport across to Edinburgh and some to Manchester airport. The CAA has advised passengers to contact their airlines before travelling to see if there is a contingency plan in place.
Yesterday Irish airports were closed as the level of ash in the air increased but were later re-opened but as the ash cloud rolled in overnight the decision was made to close them again along with some Scottish airports.
Andrew Haines CEO of CAA said the chance of a UK airport closure was slim as the ash would disperse throughout the day as the wind changes direction and push the cloud away from the UK
Glasgow, Prestwick and Derry are expected to be closed most of the day and although Edinburgh is still currently operating it is expected to close in the afternoon along with Belfast airport.
The airports are doing as much as they possibly can and busses are transporting passengers from Glasgow airport across to Edinburgh and some to Manchester airport. The CAA has advised passengers to contact their airlines before travelling to see if there is a contingency plan in place.
Yesterday Irish airports were closed as the level of ash in the air increased but were later re-opened but as the ash cloud rolled in overnight the decision was made to close them again along with some Scottish airports.
Andrew Haines CEO of CAA said the chance of a UK airport closure was slim as the ash would disperse throughout the day as the wind changes direction and push the cloud away from the UK
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Thomas Cook Plane In Ash Scare
A Thomas Cook plane had to return to Manchester airport yesterday in what is thought to be a volcanic ash related problem, the Boeing 757 was bound for Corfu, to rescue stranded passengers on the holiday island. The plane which only had cabin crew on board ran into trouble at 20,000ft over Stratford, with the captain reporting an intense smell of ash.
After reaching 37,000ft the captain reported they had lost an engine bleed valve, which sucks air into the cabin to maintain pressure, the cause of this is thought to be the volcanic ash clogging the valve. The captain then made a request to land quickly back at Manchester airport, free of being placed in a queue.
Once back on the tarmac Thomas Cook officials claimed the aircraft had to abort its flight due to a minor technical malfunction with its air-conditioning and refused to lay the blame on volcanic ash.
After reaching 37,000ft the captain reported they had lost an engine bleed valve, which sucks air into the cabin to maintain pressure, the cause of this is thought to be the volcanic ash clogging the valve. The captain then made a request to land quickly back at Manchester airport, free of being placed in a queue.
Once back on the tarmac Thomas Cook officials claimed the aircraft had to abort its flight due to a minor technical malfunction with its air-conditioning and refused to lay the blame on volcanic ash.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
UK air space open
An end to the travel nightmare looked closer last night as UK airspace was re-opened allowing the first flight to land at Heathrow airport in 6 days, BA on the orders of Willie Walsh sent flights to Heathrow whilst the ban was still in effect in act of defiance against NATS. The ban was lifted at 22.00 hours and the BA plane was allowed to land.
Some sources think the gamble by BA to send the planes to Heathrow forced the hand of officials to open airspace as pressure was beginning to mount from disgruntled airlines and some 150,000 stranded passengers. Though NATS insist the ban was lifted after data collected from BA and various other test flights revealed that the aircraft’s could deal with volcanic ash.
Which does back up Willie Walsh’s theory that the “blanket ban” was an over-reaction and could have been handled much better, Mr Walsh also commented that it would take 2 weeks for operations to return to normal. Global airlines have lost over £1billion with BA losing £20million a day along with other major holiday providers recording huge losses as travellers demand refunds and compensation.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Ash Cloud Latest
Some airports mainly in the North of the UK have re-opened this morning, planes left the tarmac at Glasgow and Edinburgh airport but the opened airspace is set to be short lived after (NATS) confirmed that the Volcano in Iceland had emitted a new ash cloud that was heading for Britain. Causing more heartache for Britain with an estimated 150,000 britons still stranded abroad.
The Navy has been drafted in to help rescue the stranded passengers with 3 warships being dispatched to ferry travellers back to the UK, but as these ships can carry an estimated 200 passengers at a time it is not going to be a permanent solution to the ever growing problem.
Manchester airport was due to open at 0900 hours this morning but it is still yet to open with a statement on their site stating it hopes to be open by 1900 hours tonight though that looks unlikely with the conditions worsening.
Similar statements can be read on the websites of Heathrow and Gatwick airport as the travel industry goes into meltdown in what is already an incredibly difficult time. An update from (NATS) is expected at 1500 hours today with the likely-hood of a further extension to the airspace ban on the UK.
BA have confirmed that it has 12 long-haul flights bound for Heathrow airport, a company official stated that contingency plans were in place if Heathrow remained closed, but would not reveal what those plans were or where they intended to land the aircraft.
The Navy has been drafted in to help rescue the stranded passengers with 3 warships being dispatched to ferry travellers back to the UK, but as these ships can carry an estimated 200 passengers at a time it is not going to be a permanent solution to the ever growing problem.
Manchester airport was due to open at 0900 hours this morning but it is still yet to open with a statement on their site stating it hopes to be open by 1900 hours tonight though that looks unlikely with the conditions worsening.
Similar statements can be read on the websites of Heathrow and Gatwick airport as the travel industry goes into meltdown in what is already an incredibly difficult time. An update from (NATS) is expected at 1500 hours today with the likely-hood of a further extension to the airspace ban on the UK.
BA have confirmed that it has 12 long-haul flights bound for Heathrow airport, a company official stated that contingency plans were in place if Heathrow remained closed, but would not reveal what those plans were or where they intended to land the aircraft.
Monday, 19 April 2010
Britain Stranded
Millions of British travellers around the World are still stranded after the UK airspace ban imposed by (NATS) enters its third day due to the volcanic ash cloud engulfing the country. The earliest time at the moment for airlines to fly their aircraft is 0100 Tuesday morning, as the damage to the travel industry continues to grow the volcano is still emitting the dangerous ash clouds.
The chaos has spread throughout Europe with a number of airports being closed though Finland airport has been open today along with the Spanish airports, the majority have been shut though.
BA flew a test flight through the ash cloud with CEO Willie Walsh on board to see the effects for themselves, experiencing no difficulties the plane was landed at Cardiff airport where a full technical investigation was carried out, the results of which found no damage had been done to the plane.
BA are now calling for the ban to be lifted saying that (NATS) is over-reacting, stranded travellers are using any means possible to return to the UK as the Euro tunnel and the docks at Calais are packed with frantic travellers trying to get home, some having paid thousands for the privilege and travelling thousands of miles on min-busses. Hopefully the wind will change and the airports can re-open as soon as possible.
The chaos has spread throughout Europe with a number of airports being closed though Finland airport has been open today along with the Spanish airports, the majority have been shut though.
BA flew a test flight through the ash cloud with CEO Willie Walsh on board to see the effects for themselves, experiencing no difficulties the plane was landed at Cardiff airport where a full technical investigation was carried out, the results of which found no damage had been done to the plane.
BA are now calling for the ban to be lifted saying that (NATS) is over-reacting, stranded travellers are using any means possible to return to the UK as the Euro tunnel and the docks at Calais are packed with frantic travellers trying to get home, some having paid thousands for the privilege and travelling thousands of miles on min-busses. Hopefully the wind will change and the airports can re-open as soon as possible.
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