Icelandic volcanic ash on Wednesday, but experts said the eruption was
rapidly dying down.
The ash from the Grimsvotn volcano has caused far fewer problems than in
2010, when more than 10 million people were hit by a si
x-day European airspace shutdown after another Icelandic volcano erupted.
Airlines put their revenue loss then at $1.7 billion.
The latest episode forced 500 flight cancellations on Tuesday, with Scotland
especially hard hit. It also exposed disarray among the people who decide on
aviation safety as they try to apply new rules to avoid another mass
airspace shutdown.
Budget airline Ryanair was again vocal in its criticism and airline
association IATA said that more coordination was needed.
In Iceland, volcano experts had good news for airlines as they said that the
eruption was petering out.
President Olafur Grimsson told the BBC, "The volcano seems to be calming
down. The eruption is gradually being diminished and the ash cloud is
definitely smaller than it has been."
For Wednesday, Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based agency responsible for some
of the world's busiest air corridors, said the ash cloud may affect parts of
Denmark, southern Norway and southwest Sweden, with some impact on flights.
German air safety authorities said that they would have to halt landings and
take-offs at Bremen airport from 0300 GMT, followed by Hamburg an hour later
and possibly Berlin from about 1000 GMT. Hannover might also be affected.
Traffic in Scotland and northern England was the main ash victim on Monday,
but Britain said that it thought this would ease. UK air traffic control
body Nats said no ash was expected over Britain from 1am (0000 GMT) on
Wednesday.
Among travellers affected were US President Barack Obama, who left Ireland
for Britain late on Monday ahead of schedule.
The Barcelona soccer team flew to London early for Saturday's Champions
League final against Manchester United.
New rules still imperfect
Eurocontrol said that the approximately 500 flights cancelled on Tuesday
were out of around 29,000 expected that day across the continent.
New procedures put the onus on airlines to make judgments on whether it is
safe to fly through ash, in coordination with the forecasting authorities
and civil aviation bodies.
Showing the problems, sources told Reuters that a British research plane
designed to sample ash remained grounded for a second day in a wrangle over
its deployment.
The rules are also not accepted by all, with Germany backing a tougher
stance for the sake of safety, aviation sources said.
"The potential for a patchwork of inconsistent state decisions on airspace
management still exists," IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani said in a
statement.
Ryanair said that it had safely sent two planes into what authorities had
deemed high ash zones over Scotland.
"You have to ask why a combination of bureaucratic incompetence in the CAA
(Civil Aviation Authority) and the Met Office
last night shut the skies over Scotland ...," Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary
told BBC television.
Grimsvotn erupted on Saturday and smoke belched as high as 20 km (12 miles)
into the sky. The eruption is its most powerful since 1873 and stronger than
the volcano that caused trouble in 2010.
