European aviation authorities are taking a more pragmatic approach to the latest volcanic ash clouds affecting air travel.
Instead of blanket closures of air space, national agencies are handling the matters as best they can withjin the safety guidelines
European aviation authorities are taking a more pragmatic approach to the latest volcanic ash clouds affecting air travel.
Instead of blanket closures of air space, national agencies are handling the matters as best they can withjin the safety guidelines.
At the weekend, airlines were forced to cancel hundreds of flights across Europe and add hours to transatlantic journeys as planes were diverted around ash clouds from a still erupting Icelandic volcano.
The cancellations have been a fraction of the flights that were grounded two weeks ago when safety fears were at their height.
The latest disruptions come from two sources: a large cloud stretching over the North Atlantic toward Greenland, which affected three of Ireland’s westernmost airports, and an offshoot cloud reaching from Portugal through Spain, southern France and northern Italy, then up to Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria.
This caused flight cancellations across the region, as well as some transatlantic flights, which require extra fuel to avoid the no-fly zone.
Eurocontrol, the pan-European agency, said there would be about 500 fewer flights than the approximate 24,500 flights expected on Sunday. It added that most of the closed airports were likely to reopen later on Sunday.
A Swiss government meteorologist, quoted by the Associated Press, said rain would help wash out the cloud by Monday morning and no further ash drifts were expected to reach the continent in the coming 24 hours.
Longer-term forecasts are less clear. Meteorologists say that until the Eyjafjallajokul volcano stops erupting, the future course of Europe's ash crisis will depend heavily on the prevailing winds.
The eruption has shown no signs of stopping since it began on April 13.
• Air New Zealand reports no disruptions to its flights to London.
