Recent Icelandic Volcanic Eruption Shuts down UK Airspace

[cja]

Manchester and other Northern uK Airports open from 0400 to 1000 local.

[EconomyClass]

BBC says it is costing European airlines $200 million a day. Wow, that's gotta sting when the companies are barely staying alive. Maybe Europe will end up with one HUGE airline, kept alive by government support.

Now that the business is global, I'm sure companies based outside the region aren't partying either.

[Highkeas]

.....................Brings me to another question. If the ash is flying at 11km. Why does it close airports. Planes aren't at that altitude in an airport approach are they?
................................

Earlier the UK Met Office stated ash cloud was from 11,000 to 26,000 ft over the UK (I could not find the site again to reference here). The ash is not visible to pilots nor does it show up on radar. The BBC has an illustration showing the plume from 18,000 ft to 35,000ft http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8624806.stm The cloud covers probably greater than a million square miles so aircraft would still be at cruise altitude.

Here are some pictures of ash damage to F-18 engines

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/04/16/340727/pictures-finnish-f-18-engine-check-reveals-effects-of-volcanic.html

My wife is in the UK at the moment and if the airspace closedown continues for long she may return to the USA on the Queen Mary.

[mawheatley]

Being from England originally, I'm interested - can you see anything in the air? Do the cars have an excessive amount of dust on them? One of the channels here said there'd be some spectacular sunsets - is this true?

[HalcyonDays]

Being from England originally, I'm interested - can you see anything in the air? Do the cars have an excessive amount of dust on them? One of the channels here said there'd be some spectacular sunsets - is this true?

There have been sporadic reports of dust on cars around parts of the UK - not everywhere, but it is suggestive. There is dust around, even if it isn't visible in the air. Volcanic ash grains tend to be smaller than Sahara sand which sometimes comes up to the UK, and is certainly more abrasive. If it's on your car, be careful when wiping it off.

[HalcyonDays]

BBC says it is costing European airlines $200 million a day. Wow, that's gotta sting when the companies are barely staying alive. Maybe Europe will end up with one HUGE airline, kept alive by government support.

Usual American myth : very few European airlines are being kept alive by governmental support, certainly no more than US carriers have received indirect governmental support over the years. It's far more likely that the US will end up with one HUGE airline. Many more airlines in Europe are profitable than in the US. Be careful also with this $200m stuff : it's just lost revenue, not money out of the door. When you don't fly, your costs also fall considerably.

[EconomyClass]

Usual American myth : very few European airlines are being kept alive by governmental support, certainly no more than US carriers have received indirect governmental support over the years. It's far more likely that the US will end up with one HUGE airline. Many more airlines in Europe are profitable than in the US. Be careful also with this $200m stuff : it's just lost revenue, not money out of the door. When you don't fly, your costs also fall considerably.

I didn't say they are NOW. But given how many airlines are consolidating across what used to be international boundaries, and given how every new development seems like worse news than the last, I think one European international airline with maybe tax breaks could emerge from the shooting gallery that is the airline biz these days. Look at what the USA is doing for banks and automakers. You think the EU wouldn't preserve domestic aviation with similar measures? For one thing, I think not only commerce but even aviation jobs are at stake, jobs that voters hold. More and more it really looks like competition is merely destroying the industry. Like many places nowadays, pure capitalism is like an emperor with no clothes. Lots of people fear they will lose the respect of society if they speak up about it, but I don't give a s**t. We don't have to be mercantilist to preserve some semblance of certain industries. We don't have to just let them all slide to Asia as sacrifices to the god, Capitalism.

Anyway, you can make this an American-European clash, if you must. But don't ever say that was my point.

[Highkeas]

I found the UK Met Office site again, They are now reporting ash layers as low as 4500 ft

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/corporate/pressoffice/2010/volcano/dustobs.html

[CathayPacific]

I wonder why we haven't seen the following announcements:

From some Islamist websites:
A little-known Islamist group takes responsibilities of the eruption and the subsequent blowing of the ash towards Europe and call this operation a great success that cripples the economy of the crusaders. Of course the message ends with a statement stating that God is Great.

From some neo-conservatives/ultra-religious talk show hosts in US:
This is God's punishment to the Europeans who have drifted off from the path of God to embrace the liberal ideas of same sex marriage and abortion.

From 2012 belivers:
This is the first taste of what's to come.

From people who think the gigantic particle accelerator in France/Switzerland would end the world:
I told you not to turn that damn thing on.

From the Iceland people (to UK and Netherlands):
Since you want us to pay you back for the failure of IceSave (bank) and we have no money, we thought we would send you some of our specialty products in lieu of hard cash.

OK. Back to the topic...

The ash looks like to be continue to drift to the southeast. But the concentration of ash in air should decrease as the ash-cloud gets further away from the origin. Is it really that bad that even Czech, Romania and Austria need to shut their air space? How far would this ash-cloud get?

[EconomyClass]

From people who think the gigantic particle accelerator in France/Switzerland would end the world:
I told you not to turn that damn thing on.

How come some witty cartoonist hasn't published a cartoon on this? Another splendid opportunity wasted!

[EconomyClass]

On the TV, a guy wiped ash off his car and it was like talcum powder. So I'm guessing it isn't the whole cloud but certain abrasive components that endanger aviation.

[WILCO737]

Now I am officially "stucked" as well I received the information that Frankfurt airport won't open until 00:00Z tonight, so in roughly 15 hours from now. But this is not 100%...
It is all pretty bad apparently. I don't want to fly through the ashcloud. Let's hope the situation gets better soon!

[DAL767-400ER]

I wonder why we haven't seen the following announcements:

From 2012 belivers:
This is the first taste of what's to come.

Actually a certain German newspaper that likes to blow things out of proportion had a small article like that today with comments by two "experts", one which said it was just the start and one which brought up Nostradamus' predictions, you know, the usual stuff that he predicted for the last 100 years or so .

[Geebee]

Sad indeed but on the other hand, funny to read some of the comments on blogs, websites, etc.
I was lucky to be able to leave Moscow to Warsaw on Thursday evening but on my flight there were already people diverted from other flights that were cancelled.
Shortly after, Moscow and St-Petersburg were closed and so was the majority of Polish airspace.
Colleagues of mine are stuck still in Moscow and have little or no idea on when they'd be able to continue their journey. The economical and personal impact is substantial.

[DAIRD]

@DAL: do you mean the four-letter-gazette what behaves as the central information organ responsible for all matters of life....?