SERIOUS DISRUPTION to air travel caused by volcanic ash looks likely to continue in the coming days with no change forecast in weather patterns until Friday, the Government’s taskforce on emergency planning has warned.
However, other countries were more bullish about ending the flight stoppage caused by Iceland’s ash plume.
Airlines including KLM, Air France and Lufthansa safely flew test flights without passengers over Europe yesterday and BA planned a test flight over Ireland’s airspace.
Spain’s secretary of state for EU affairs Diego López Garrido said it was possible that 50 per cent of flights in Europe could operate today. Mr Garrido, whose country holds the EU presidency, was speaking after a meeting at European aviation control agency Eurocontrol.
EU transport commissioner Siim Kallas told the briefing he hoped 50 per cent of European airspace would be risk-free today. He said the current situation was “not sustainable” and European authorities were working to find a solution that did not compromise safety.
The Irish Government’s taskforce on emergency planning said Irish embassies and consulates were reporting increased inquiries from citizens stranded overseas due to the volcanic ash plume.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said his department had opened its consular crisis centre in Dublin to assist people in difficulty abroad.
Up to last night almost 2,000 flights in and out of the Dublin, Cork and Shannon alone had been cancelled, upsetting the travel plans of about 230,000 passengers. That number will increase over the coming days with about 550 flights involving about 57,000 passengers expected to be cancelled each day from these airports until Irish airspace is reopened.
Ryanair yesterday evening cancelled all its inbound and outbound Irish flights, as well as flights between most other northern and eastern European countries, until 1pm on Wednesday. Aer Lingus has cancelled all flights today, apart from one flight from Washington to Madrid. Meanwhile, Met Éireann forecaster Evelyn Cusack said the weather remained unchanged for the coming days but rain and southwesterly winds were expected on Friday. This would help to improve the airflow and should have an impact on the volcanic ash plume.
Maurice Mullen of the Department of Transport said that while the rain would clear Irish airspace, “of course European airspaces have to clear as well”.
Denis Daly of the Irish Aviation Authority said that, while Irish airspace was closed until 1pm today, it was “unlikely” it would reopen to commercial traffic for a number of days.
Asked if it would be Saturday or Sunday before international travel could resume, he said: “If it’s possible to open the airspace, let’s say for transatlantic traffic before that, obviously that is an option that we will be looking very closely at, but all of the east-bound traffic going from here, let’s say to the UK or to Europe, would still seem to remain to be affected.”
Mr Mullen acknowledged the inconvenience to stranded travellers and encouraged people to keep in contact with their air carrier or travel agent for updates.
He said the taskforce was asking ferry companies to review capacity in the light of any increased demands being made. However, ferry companies said they believed they had enough capacity to cope with the increased demand.
Stena Line and Irish Ferries said services between Dún Laoghaire and Holyhead were filling up quickly but there was still capacity available on night sailings and from Belfast and Rosslare.
The taskforce also said the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment was consulting with representatives of businesses that use air freight, to minimise disruption. Mr Mullen said 98 per cent of trade to and from Ireland was carried by ship. – (Additional reporting PA)
