Iceland: Volcano disrupts flights in UK and other European countries

I told my husband he may have inadvertently emigrated. 

I have heard that there is a review on the ban for flights.  I think they are going to try to get planes up in the air...at least 50% today (monday), as this is causing chaos everywhere and for sooo many people.  I think they are going to try to navigate through the ash?

I am suppsoed to fly out Wednesday evening from Atlanta to Manchester...we will see...my flight is not cancelled as of yet.

I would love more info on what people have heard on getting flights up.  I cant imagine all those people stranded.

Well, BA flew a test flight over the weekend with no adverse effects (it's not navigation that's the problem, it's the bits of ash melting onto engine parts and causing them to stop), and apparently the planes might be able to fly at 20,000 feet (under the ash) in the affected airspace, but the EU is still taking a very cautious approach.

It's the Vikings Revenge!   

The ban remains in effect until tomorrow (Tuesday) 1am (UK time).

I've heard there is a possibility with the wind shifting to the NW that the ash cloud could now shift to the East coast of the US and delay travel from there in the future (just speculation from the scientist on TV).  I just saw a report on the news that said the current ash cloud coming from the volcano is only about 4-5K feet high.

A lot depends on if the volcano continues to erupt or if it decides to go back to sleep.  I read that everytime this volcano has erupted in the past it triggered the bigger, sister volcano to erupt (which lasted for 2 years at least once) and that is another potential problem everyone has been keeping an eye on.

I'm not sure if they would try to navigate through the ash as it can cause engine failure. I know that I definitely wouldn't want to be on a flight that was going to try this approach.

I'm not sure if they would try to navigate through the ash as it can cause engine failure. I know that I definitely wouldn't want to be on a flight that was going to try this approach.

I know right, all it would take is one plane to go down and then air traffic would really stop for some time due to intense fears!

Hi - we're stuck in the US, due to return to UK Sunday, but told it will be two weeks before seats are available, even once airspace is reopened. Thankfully we're with family.

This kind of thing might already be out there, but I set this up to help stranded passengers find accommodation/meals from local hosts

newcomer link: http://docs.google.com/View?id=d8mn2jq_20hn9z35fd [nonactive]

If someone posts back to say this is already up and running elsewhere let me know and I'll pull it and redirect people to the other facilities.

If people think it's a good idea, please forward the link and publicize it as it obviously will work best when most people know about it.

Update from my DF who is due to fly out of MAN on Friday:

AIRSPACE RESTRICTIONS UPDATE
NATS has confirmed that UK airspace will progressively open tomorrow.
Consequently, Manchester Airport will be open from 09:00 on Tuesday 20 April 2010 unless there is a deterioration in conditions.
It is absolutely essential that people contact their airline before travelling to the airport for any flight because schedules will take some time to return to normal.
After five days without flights, tens of thousands of passengers waiting to be repatriated and the ash cloud continuing to cover parts of Europe, significant disruption is likely before normal operations are resumed.
We would like to thank passengers for their continued patience and understanding since this situation began on Thursday 15 April.

Just called my airline to see if there was an ETA on my luggage (which they have had since 8am on Thursday morning)...they're still looking and have no idea when it might be "located".  They forced the majority of the stranded passengers to declare lost luggage because they had too much luggage to sort through it and try to find everyone's.  This should be a lot of fun considering over half of the 4 suitcases I have contain irreplaceable keysake items (not to mention every piece of clothing - aside from one outfit - that actually fits me).

Ugh, just when I thought things couldn't be worse, the BBC points out that people waiting for their bone marrow transplants are now left in a very, very vulnerable state because the stem cells are always flown in by couriers to make it to the patient in time.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8628078.stm

The thing is, it isn't just like a blood donation where the donor just gives, the blood can be kept for ages, and the patient just gets it - there's a long lead-up for the donor getting shots to stimulate stem cell production before the donation, and the patient has to start their week-long chemo before the cells are donated, too. And the stem cells are only good for 72hrs and in a lot of cases, can only come from that one particular donor out of the entire world population! So those poor 16 people are stuck with zero defences in complete isolation and zero stem cells now because of the flights, and the donor can't produce more stem cells for at least three weeks (to start the process again). So those people have essentially just been given a death sentence. It's hard enough to endure the wait between getting the stem cells and waiting for them to engraft, but now this is going to be at least 3-4 times longer and the chances of picking up an infection in that time are dramatically increased.

That could've been me. My stem cells were from an American donor and came by couriered flight last summer. 

That's so sad...        Its just insanity.

I'm stuck in the US... no idea when I'm getting back to my home in Scotland.  I'm just hanging out, trying to get in touch with Virgin...  and keep getting a busy signal.  I don't want to fly until its safe!  I don't mind too much... 

This is the latest from www.nats.co.uk
Since our last statement at 1530 today, the volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK.  This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working. he latest information shows that Scottish airports should be available from 0700 and more airspace over England may become available from 1300 although not as far south as the main London airports.

This is the latest from www.nats.co.uk
Since our last statement at 1530 today, the volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK.  This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working. he latest information shows that Scottish airports should be available from 0700 and more airspace over England may become available from 1300 although not as far south as the main London airports.

I was just reading about this on the bbc.  I wonder if they will be able to get the airspace open.

I doubt that it will be all cleared up by tomorrow, especially if there was another spewing.

That's what I thought when I first read it.  My mom, dad, and I have a pool going on how long we think the flight ban will be on for.