Jump to content
MalaysianWings - Malaysia's Premier Aviation Portal
H C Chai

Icelandic volcanic ash alert grounds UK & European flights

Recommended Posts

Europe's airlines and airports question flight bans

 

Europe's air industry has called for an urgent review of flight bans imposed because of volcanic ash from Iceland.

 

The bodies representing most European airlines and airports have questioned the need for the unprecedented curbs, which affect millions of travellers.

 

Airlines that have carried out test flights say planes showed no obvious damage after flying through the ash.

 

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said he hoped 50% of Europe's airspace would be risk-free on Monday.

 

He said the current situation was "not sustainable" and European authorities were working to find a solution that did not compromise safety.

 

Mr Kallas also said EU transport ministers would hold a video teleconference on Monday to assess the situation. About 20 European countries have closed their airspace.

 

The flight bans came amid fears that the ash - a mixture of glass, sand and rock particles - can seriously damage aircraft engines. Airlines are estimated to be losing some £130m ($200m) a day.

 

ACI Europe - which represents major airports - and the Association of European Airlines issued a joint statement urging officials to reconsider the restrictions.

 

"The eruption of the Icelandic volcano is not an unprecedented event and the procedures applied in other parts of the world for volcanic eruptions do not appear to require the kind of restrictions that are presently being imposed in Europe," the statement said.

 

Earlier, several airlines also questioned the curbs.

 

Peter Hartman, chief executive of Dutch carrier KLM, said there had been "nothing unusual" about a test flight carried out by the airline through the plume, and he hoped to "get permission as soon as possible to partially restart our operations".

 

Steven Verhagen, vice-president of the Dutch Airline Pilots Association, told the Associated Press news agency: "In our opinion there is absolutely no reason to worry about resuming flights."

 

Germany's two biggest airlines, Lufthansa and Air Berlin, also said they had carried out test flights without apparent damage, as did Air France.

 

Air Berlin spokeswoman Diana Daedelow told the BBC: "It is astonishing that these findings... have seemingly been ignored in the decision-making process of the aviation safety authorities."

 

A British Airways Boeing 747 completed a test flight through the no-fly zone at 30,000ft (9.1km) from Heathrow to Cardiff on Sunday.

 

While it encountered no problems, no loss of engine performance and no damage to windows, engineers in Cardiff were due to make a more detailed assessment of its engine overnight.

 

Earlier on Sunday, a UK Met Office plane went through the cloud and encountered dangerous levels of ash, showing that the issue is not whether the cloud is real and dangerous but whether its extent can be accurately mapped, BBC business editor Robert Peston writes.

 

One possible solution is to put observation planes in the sky, to give a more detailed picture of the location of ash concentrations, and the UK government is therefore trying to obtain more observation planes, from the military in particular, he adds.

 

Our business editor understands that BA fears it may not be allowed to fly normal services until Thursday at the earliest.

 

Worsening disruption

 

UK Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, said "urgent discussions" were taking place between European and international agencies to ease the chaos.

 

"We want to be able to resume flights as soon as possible, but safety remains my paramount concern," he said.

 

Weather experts say wind patterns mean the cloud is not likely to move far until later in the week.

 

Brian Flynn, head of operations at Eurocontrol - which co-ordinates air traffic control in 38 nations - dismissed suggestions the authorities were being over-cautious.

 

"With the overriding objective of protecting the travelling public, these exceptional measures have to be taken," he said.

 

Meanwhile travel disruption worsened on Sunday. Eurocontrol said only 4,000 flights were expected in European airspace, against 24,000 normally.

 

On Saturday there were 5,000 flights. All but 55 of 337 scheduled flights by US carriers to and from Europe were also cancelled.

 

from the BBC, read in full here

 

 

Ministers mull volcano ash cloud flight chaos measures

 

Britons stranded by flight restrictions as a result of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland could be returned to the UK through a "Spanish hub".

 

Ministers met to discuss plans before UK flight restrictions were extended until at least 1900 BST on Monday.

 

Ideas included flying those outside the no-fly zone to Spain and then using the Royal Navy and requisitioning merchant ships to help return them to the UK.

 

The Tories and Lib Dems had called for ministers to give out more information.

 

Travel agents' association Abta said its "rough estimate" was that 150,000 Britons had been unable to return to the UK because of flight restrictions.

 

"At no time in living memory has British airspace been shut down and affected this many people," a spokeswoman said.

 

Forecasters have warned the dust cloud may remain over the UK for several days.

 

The continued ban on UK flights comes as bodies representing European airports and airlines have called for flight restrictions to be reviewed.

 

Planes were first grounded in the UK at midday on Thursday amid fears that particles in the ash cloud generated by the volcanic eruption could cause engines to shut down.

 

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, who emerged from Sunday's 85-minute meeting of ministers flanked by several cabinet colleagues, said: "We will mobilise all possible means to get people home."

 

He said Prime Minister Gordon Brown would meet with his Spanish counterpart to explore whether Britons could be returned by landing in Spain - which is open to flights - from certain parts of the world.

 

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said Met Office advice was that it would not be safe for flights across most of northern Europe on Monday.

 

He said data from a number of test flights would go to regulators and there would be a meeting of European transport ministers on Monday.

 

Additional capacity had been introduced on other transport such as Eurostar and Eurtounnel trains, and ferries, he added.

 

Security minister Lord West, a former head of the Royal Navy, said using the navy to bring people home was an option.

 

The government's Cobra emergency committee is to meet at 0830 BST on Monday.

 

The Conservatives have released an eight-point plan they would like to see to tackle the situation.

 

It includes chartering ships to bring people home who are stranded in Europe and urging ferry and rail operators to retain their normal pricing structures.

 

Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said: "With thousands of Britons stuck in airports overseas, it is hugely worrying that there is no end in sight for the flight ban."

 

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said it needed to be "urgently assessed" how much longer British passengers faced being stranded for.

 

Meanwhile, A British Airways Boeing 747 has completed a test flight at 30,000ft from Heathrow to Cardiff, via the Atlantic.

 

Chief executive Willie Walsh - who is a trained pilot - and four crew were on board.

 

BBC business editor Robert Peston reported that the 550-mile, a two-and-three-quarter hour flight had encountered no problems.

 

Engineers in Cardiff will make a more detailed assessment of the plane's engine overnight.

 

Dutch airline KLM and German airline Lufthansa have also carried out test flights in their countries' airspace to see if it is safe for planes to fly.

 

KLM said it had flown a plane through the cloud of volcanic ash without suffering any damage.

 

Air France said it had successfully carried out a test flight from Paris to Toulouse.

 

Airports Council International (ACI) Europe and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said they were "questioning the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed".

 

AEA secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus said: "Verification flights undertaken by several of our airlines have revealed no irregularities at all."

 

Earlier, Brian Flynn, head of operations at Eurocontrol, the organisation in charge of air safety in Europe, denied aviation authorities were being over cautious.

 

Ryanair has cancelled all scheduled flights between the UK, Irish Republic, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Poland and the Baltic states until 1300 BST on Wednesday.

 

Easyjet has cancelled all its flights scheduled before 1300 BST on Monday in areas where airspace is closed, but a limited number are expected to operate in southern Europe.

 

BMI said it was cancelling all its Heathrow flights until midnight on Monday.

 

Anyone concerned about the safety of a British national stranded abroad can call a Foreign Office helpline on 020 7008 0000, or visit its website at www.fco.gov.uk.

 

Stranded Britons should contact their local embassy, high commission or consulate.

 

The disruption has affected hundreds of thousands of travellers since Wednesday, when the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland began erupting.

 

also from the BBC

 

The weatherman unfortunately having to bear brunt of it again ! :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

FLYING BLUE - TURNING BLUE

 

I was booked to fly from Quito to Amsterdam on KL754 on 15 April and just after the aircraft arrived from Amsterdam, Bonaire and Guayaquil, we were informed of the flight's cancellation. And since then, I have been stuck in Quito for the past five days.

 

While one can surely appreciate that this is an act of god or nature, I was stunned by how KLM has very quickly dropped its responsibility to keep passengers informed (when) flight resumes. While it initially took down our mobile phone numbers and promised to call us when flight resumes, it did that. Except that hours before the check in counter opened at 0630hrs, its station manager was informed that the flight will not be coming. Instead of marshalling his staff to quickly call the same passengers to remain in their hotel instead of making the pre-dawn dash to the airport, it was felt the staff need their sleep (and I am quoting the KLM Staff at UIO). It did not matter that almost 200 passengers left their hotel and came to the airport without breakfast or adequate sleep.

 

After this, KLM decided that it no longer wants to inform the passengers of the next flight. Passengers from three cancelled flights (and more each day when another flight is cancelled)were given a piece of crudely printed n cut paper with the reservation telephone number - except that I spent US$20 in prepaid phone card calling and waiting for the "operator to attend to me shortly". Did I think of returning instead on Delta Airlines via ATL and NRT? Sure I did but 'NO' was the answer. So much for the combined network of AF-KL-DL covering so much of the world via their three superhubs in Roissy-CDG, AMS Schiphol and Atlanta. Can I speak to the Station Manager - NO. Can we be informed via sms instead - so that it is easier for the airline staff to just broadcast the same info when a flight is coming our way - NO.

 

It is noteworthy that KLM staff at UIO do not wear name tags and when asked her name - NO!

 

Only later when talking to a circle of people from various organisations within UIO airport was I let in on the common and well-known opinion within the airport community - KLM staffers at UIO are the most arrogant among all the airlines serving this airport.

 

On our previous trip to Quito, most of us flew with a combination of Star Alliance carriers - UA, CO, SQ, NH - and ended up in Houston where we took another CO flight to Quito. This time round, I was busy-body enough to check out the most convenient flights for all 11 members of our delegation to UIO using KLM flights. I encouraged them to sample flying to UIO without transiting the uS and avoiding its immigration and naggy security procedures. It sounded like a damn good idea then . . . but now, give me Houston any time.

 

When I signed on Flying Blue just before making this trip, I was really sure that I will be clocking miles quite quickly as we have more trips to Quito in the pipeline. After being dumped and treated worst than dirt - oh I forgot to mention that instructions shouted out at the airport were in Spanish ... and when I questioned why no English announcements were made, the reply was: THIS IS ECUADOR! And she was speechless when I asked "Is KLM an Ecuadorian airline? Or is it a Dutch airline with passengers from all over the world? - I am sitting in a little hotel room mulling the fate of the Flying Blue card when I receive it. I think one of my table may have a leg shorter than the other three.

 

Never mind all the rudeness, you should see the utter chaos ... and how they make everybody queue for as much as two hours just to hand out telephone numbers! Have they not heard of a white board, a black board or perhaps a piece of scribbled note? For an airline that boasts online function for everything from booking to checking in and more, KLM seems to be caught in a technological abyss that it could not get out of. I am looking for the next smoke signal coming out of its office - not one signalling a new pope has been named but one telling us a flight is coming our way.

 

Every morning, at 0600hrs, I dutifully take my suitcase on a freezing journey to UIO airport - because since I cant get through its single telephone number - oh yes, the staff responded when I mentioned difficulties getting through the number "Of course it is difficult. We have about 600 passengers trying to call the same number. Now why did I not think of that - I would be caught limp if a flight turned up and other passengers got on the limited seats on the MD-11.

 

I FLEW BLUE and TURNED BLUE! And I suspect the next one to fly will be my FLYING BLUE Card . . . straight out of the window or under the short leg of my table.

 

Has any other MalaysianWingers been stuck anywhere?

 

KC Sim (still in freezing Quito)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Due to this situation, our major hub in CDG is really affected & packages are transported by ground trucks instead but its gonna be much slower :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

PH-BFD departed AMS for BKK. Carried some cargo and lots of crew. No pax.

PH-CKB departed AMS for DOH-SHJ-KUL-BKK. Cargoflight.

 

According to a.net following KLM flight to operate as of last night.

 

KL809 AMS-KUL will leave tonight. No passengers, only cargo !

KL877 AMS-BKK will leave tonight. No passengers, only cargo !

KL835 AMS-SIN-CGK will leave tongith. No passengers, only cargo !

 

Pieter can you confirm this? Also will the flight from KUL-AMS (PH-BVD) fly back to AMS as well?

Edited by Raj

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

KC,

 

I feel for you! None of this would have happened had you flown using your previous routing... Its no fun getting stranded in unfamiliar surroundings and where language is also a barrier. Did you have travel insurance cover? Maybe you can rebook the flights to come back via US and claim that on the insurance.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Well... good Luck!

Currently the situation still gets worse. Frankfurt is closed since early morning (so currently ALL western european intercont hubs are closed: Paris, London, Frankfurt, Muc expects to be closed later today). The Austrian airspace will be closed by early evening today.

 

I should be going to London tomorrow morning...good joke, isn't it?

 

I have been put on another flight on Tuesday, April 27th. This is more than a week from my planned flight. I had to call my School and inform them I won't be able to get back in time for exams.

 

Keeping in touch with the airline over the weekend was impossible even in a situation when passengers really need to be in touch with them. Called airline in KL, Sg., and UK, got no answer. Finally few hours before planned flight they called me and inform me about flight cancelation; this is not efficient, is it...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i was on PH-BVD last Saturday to CGK....according to the crews they are doing a shuttle service between KUL-CGK until they can proceed to AMS. The flight will stay overnite in KUL. The flight experience was still great even with no earphones and only basic catering bcoz the crew said they didn't have any fresh supplies due to the plane that cannot return to AMS.

 

p/s: now in CGK waiting for return flight to KUL with KL 810.....

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Europe Hopes Half Of Monday Flights Will Operate

 

April 18, 2010

 

European officials said they hoped half of flights would operate across the continent on Monday as they sought to ease four days of airline paralysis caused by a sprawling ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano.

 

The closure of most of Europe's airspace except for the eastern and southern rims has cost airlines and airports hundreds of millions of dollars, and they called on Sunday for a review of the restrictions. The closure has also stranded millions of passengers and hurt exporters.

 

The Dutch airline KLM, which flew several test flights, said most European airspace was safe despite the plume of ash, and despatched two commercial freight flights to Asia on Sunday evening.

 

European Union Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said he hoped 50 percent of European airspace would be risk-free on Monday, adding the current situation was not sustainable. "We cannot wait until the ash flows just disappear," he said.

 

"The forecast is that there will be half of flights possibly operating tomorrow," said Spanish Secretary of State for European Union affairs Diego Lopez Garrido. "It will be difficult; that's why we have to coordinate," he told reporters after a meeting at European aviation control agency Eurocontrol.

 

Italy and Austria said they would reopen affected airports on Monday.

 

Only 5,000 flights took place in European airspace on Sunday, compared with 24,000 normally, Eurocontrol said. It said 63,000 flights had been cancelled since Thursday.

 

Iceland's Meteorological Office said tremors from the volcano had grown more intense but that the column of ash rising from it had eased back to 4-5 km from as high as 11 km when it began erupting on Wednesday from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier.

 

Volcanic ash is abrasive and can strip off aerodynamic surfaces and paralyse an aircraft engine. Aircraft electronics and windshields can also be damaged.

 

HOPE OF RELIEF

 

Weekend test flights with empty planes offered some hope.

 

"Lufthansa made 11 flights, KLM nine, Air France seven and the results show no impact in the area... No impact coming from the ash cloud," Garrido said.

 

KLM said its inspections showed no damage to engines or evidence of dangerous ash concentrations. Its chief executive, Peter Hartman, was quoted by Dutch media as saying European airspace was safe "with the exception of an area in the north between Iceland and Russia."

 

Airline and airport groups called for the flight restrictions to be reassessed.

 

"The concentration of ash particles in the atmosphere is in all likelihood so small that it poses no threat to air transport," the association of Dutch pilots said.

 

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh flew in a test flight over Ireland which the airline said encountered no difficulties. But BA and Aer Lingus cancelled all their flights for Monday, and Ireland's Ryanair cancelled flights to and from northern Europe until Wednesday.

 

The Spanish EU presidency called a video conference of EU transport ministers for Monday.

 

"We can examine the results of the test flights and look and see whether there is any updating of the regulatory structure which might make it possible for flights to take place despite the presence of the ash cloud," British Transport Minister Andrew Adonis told BBC television.

 

Dutch state broadcaster NOS reported Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings as saying Europe's response to the ash cloud had been too severe, and that the United States did not completely close its airspace in response to similar eruptions.

 

Brian Flynn of Eurocontrol said the International Civil Aviation Organisation published rules that needed to be adhered to worldwide, and guidelines to interpret at continental level.

 

"One could say that the guidelines are interpreted slightly more rigorously in Europe than in the United States, when it comes to responsibilities of air traffic control agencies and pilots," he said.

 

The clampdown poses a growing problem for airlines, estimated to be losing USD$200 million a day, and for millions of travellers stranded worldwide.

 

Weather experts said wind patterns meant the ash plume was not likely to move far until later in the week.

 

It was expected to become more concentrated Tuesday into Wednesday, posing a greater threat to air travel, but narrowing to affect a smaller area. A shift in jet stream winds from Thursday could flush it out of most of Europe.

 

"It's like a spray can of ash coming from Iceland," US- based forecaster AccuWeather said. "As with a spray can, the plume of ash is not uniform. It becomes deformed and spreads out in different directions the farther from the source it gets."

 

For travellers, businesses and financial markets the biggest problem remains the sheer unpredictability of the situation.

 

ECONOMIC HAZARDS

 

Economists say they stand by their predictions for European growth, hoping normal service can resume this week.

 

But if European airspace were closed for months, one economist estimated lost travel and tourism revenue alone could knock 1-2 percentage points off regional growth. European growth had been predicted at 1-1.5 percent for 2010.

 

"That would mean a lot of European countries wouldn't get any growth this year," said Vanessa Rossi, senior economic fellow at Chatham House. "It would literally stifle the recovery. But the problem is it is incredibly hard to predict what will happen. Even the geologists can't tell us."

 

Disruption spread to Asia, where dozens of Europe-bound flights were cancelled and hotels from Beijing to Singapore strained to accommodate stranded passengers.

 

More than four in five flights by US airlines to and from Europe were cancelled on Saturday. Freight company FedEx said more than 100 FedEx Express flights headed to Europe had been rerouted, diverted or cancelled over 72 hours.

 

Russian airports remained open, routing planes to North America over the North Pole to avoid the cloud.

 

(Reuters)

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Airports And Airspace Closed By Ash Cloud

 

April 19, 2010

 

Large parts of Europe enforced no-fly rulings for a fourth day on Sunday because of a huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano that has caused the worst air travel chaos since the Sept. 11 attacks. Here is a list of countries as of 0645 GMT on Monday and their airspace status:

 

AUSTRIA - Airports open as of 0400 GMT Monday.

 

BOSNIA - Airports open.

 

BRITAIN - Airspace closed until at least 1800 GMT Monday. British Airways cancels all Monday flights.

 

BULGARIA - Sofia and Plovdiv airports open as of 1100 GMT Sunday. Other airports closed. Transit flights permitted at 8,000 metres (26,250 feet) altitude.

 

CZECH REPUBLIC - Airspace closed until at least 1000 GMT Monday.

 

DENMARK - Airspace closed until 1200 GMT Monday.

 

ESTONIA - Airspace closed until 1200 GMT Monday.

 

FINLAND - Airspace over two airports to open for six hours on Monday thanks to gaps in the ash cloud. Flights to operate from southwestern city of Turku and central city of Tampere between 0900 - 1500 GMT. Other airports remain shut.

 

FRANCE - Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and several other southwest airports will remain open until at least 1300 GMT Monday. Airports north of Nice-Bordeaux line remain closed at least until Tuesday morning. Air France said a test flight from Paris to Toulouse on Sunday had ended without problems; tests continuing.

 

GERMANY - Airports shut until 1200 GMT Monday.

 

HUNGARY - Airspace to remain closed until at least 1000 GMT Monday, although some flights at the discretion of traffic control may be allowed to take off or land.

 

IRELAND - Airspace closed until at least 1200 GMT on Monday. Ryanair cancelled all flights to and from northern Europe until at least mid-Wednesday. Aer Lingus cancelled all flights on Monday.

 

ITALY - Northern airspace open as of 0500 GMT Monday.

 

LATVIA - Airspace above 6,000 metres (19,700 feet) now open for transit flights, but flights to and from Riga airport not expected to resume on Monday.

 

LITHUANIA - Airspace open.

 

MONTENEGRO - Airports open.

 

NETHERLANDS - Airspace shut until at least 1200 GMT Monday.

 

NORWAY - Oslo Gardermoen Airport open for some air traffic. Other parts of the country, such as parts of northern Norway, closed to traffic.

 

POLAND - Airports closed on Monday. Transit flights in airspace permitted, but not landings and take-offs.

 

ROMANIA - Airspace closed until at least 0900 GMT Monday.

 

RUSSIA - All airports open. Aeroflot is flying to the United States via the North Pole.

 

SERBIA - Airports open.

 

SLOVAKIA - Airspace closed as of 1300 GMT on Friday.

 

SPAIN - 17 airports open.

 

SWEDEN - Airspace open for flights north of a line stretching from the southern city of Gothenburg to Stockholm. SAS to make a decision later on Monday about resuming flights.

 

SWITZERLAND - Main carrier Swiss cancelled all European flights from and to Switzerland until Monday, 1800 GMT. Swiss also cancelled all intercontinental flights from Switzerland for all of Monday.

 

TURKEY - All airports open. Planes flying out of the Black Sea cities of Samsun, Sinop and Zonguldak have been advised not to fly higher than 6,000 metres.

 

UKRAINE - Kiev's Borispol airport open.

 

(Reuters)

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

UK May Use Navy To Bring Home Stranded Citizens

 

April 18, 2010

 

Britain said on Sunday it was considering using the Royal Navy and requisitioning merchant ships to ferry home citizens stranded abroad by the closure of much of European airspace because of volcanic ash.

 

The response to the crisis is threatening to become a domestic political issue ahead of a general election on May 6 and with the ruling Labour Party trailing in opinion polls.

 

Business minister Peter Mandelson said the government was also investigating the possibility of using Spanish airports not covered by the air traffic ban as a hub for citizens stuck further south or in north America.

 

"We need to look at every single logistical option for getting our people back home," Mandelson said after an emergency meeting of ministers and officials chaired by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

 

"That's what we are going to do, either from outside Europe back onto the continent (of Europe), over the Channel, either from Spanish or French ports. We have got to look at commercial as well as Royal Navy amphibious capacity to help us in this task."

 

Brown later discussed the options with Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. "Prime Minister Zapatero said that he would help in any way he can," a spokeswoman for Brown said.

 

Ministers will meet Brown at another contingency meeting at 7:30 am GMT on Monday to decide whether to put the plans into action.

 

Ash from an Icelandic volcano has closed much of northern European airspace since Wednesday because of its potential danger to airliners.

 

Many British families had been trying to get home from foreign holidays in time for the return to school on Monday after the Easter break.

 

(Reuters)

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Emirates Losing USD$10 Mln Per Day Due To Ash

 

April 18, 2010

Dubai government-owned carrier Emirates said on Sunday it was losing USD$10 million per day, reaching a total of USD$50 million so far, due to flight disruptions caused by ash from an Icelandic volcano.

 

Large parts of Europe enforced no-fly rulings for a fourth day on Sunday because of a huge ash cloud from the volcano that has caused the worst air travel chaos since the September 11.

 

"Emirates is losing revenue from 18,000 passengers a day as airspace across the UK and much of Europe remains closed," the company said in a statement. "Around 30 Emirates aircraft are grounded -- equivalent to one fifth of the fleet."

 

More than 80,000 passengers have been affected by the disruption, the airline added.

 

"Like every carrier operating to Europe, Emirates is facing huge losses -- USD$10 million a day in our case," President Tim Clark said in the statement.

 

Clark said he predicted it will take around 24 hours to get flight schedules back to normal once approval to fly again is received.

 

The airline has stopped flights to all European destinations, barring Moscow, Athens, Larnaca, Malta and Istanbul until April 20.

 

UAE rival Etihad Airways, based in Abu Dhabi, also cancelled all flights to Europe as well as Russia until further notice.

 

The European aviation agency Eurocontrol said only 4,000 flights were expected in European airspace on Sunday, compared with 24,000 normally. It said a total of 63,000 flights had been cancelled in European airspace since Thursday.

 

(Reuters)

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

JJFirdaus,

 

Enjoy your KLM flight again; no doubt it will be again on Skyteam coloured PH-BVD :sorry:

 

KC Sim,

 

Sorry to hear about your dreadful experiences; even at KLM's OCC it's unknown when to restart ops again - it all depends on the

Dutch CAA lifting the ban on passenger flights...

Too bad, the staff is unwulling to rebook you via ATL on DL: is the fare you're travelling on a 'restricted' one ?

Expect no KLM arrival in UIO from AMS before wednesday, at the earliest (as it stands now)... :sorry: the MD-11 only operates UIO-GYE-BON v.v. at present !

On the bright side: you've more time to do spotting/photography at UIO now !!! :pardon:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Georg Burdicek, on 16 April 2010 - 03:12 AM, said:

Well... good Luck!

Currently the situation still gets worse. Frankfurt is closed since early morning (so currently ALL western european intercont hubs are closed: Paris, London, Frankfurt, Muc expects to be closed later today). The Austrian airspace will be closed by early evening today.

 

I should be going to London tomorrow morning...good joke, isn't it?

 

 

I have been put on another flight on Tuesday, April 27th. This is more than a week from my planned flight. I had to call my School and inform them I won't be able to get back in time for exams.

 

Keeping in touch with the airline over the weekend was impossible even in a situation when passengers really need to be in touch with them. Called airline in KL, Sg., and UK, got no answer. Finally few hours before planned flight they called me and inform me about flight cancelation; this is not efficient, is it...

 

 

 

well I haven't been called by anyone. I could do the web-checkin as usual, and then, around midnight, my 7am departure flight was cancelled. No one called, sent an SMS or mailed. - and I was already checked in for that flight....

They most probably did not inform you beforehand because they could not predict for how long the closure will continue - some expected airports will re-open this morning, but only in Austria they did. UK is still closed, allthoug yesterdays communications told that they most likely will reopen at 2am.

 

So don't blame the airlines - nobody knows...

Edited by Georg Burdicek

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

well I haven't been called by anyone. I could do the web-checkin as usual, and then, around midnight, my 7am departure flight was cancelled. No one called, sent an SMS or mailed. - and I was already checked in for that flight....

They most probably did not inform you beforehand because they could not predict for how long the closure will continue - some expected airports will re-open this morning, but only in Austria they did. UK is still closed, allthoug yesterdays communications told that they most likely will reopen at 2am.

 

So don't blame the airlines - nobody knows...

 

Not about cancelation; no one would know if a flight would be canceled due to the ash. But I think the problem is there is no one to answer queries--just because it is weekend and office is closed as per normal operation.

 

I think this is a question about efficiency.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Europe Battles To Overcome Air Travel Crisis

 

April 19, 2010

 

Officials hope to increase significantly flights at the start of Europe's working week on Monday and EU ministers will hold talks as pressure builds for a solution to the 5-day-old air travel crisis.

 

From just over a fifth of flights taking to the air on Sunday, the figure could rise to up to a half on Monday, said the officials.

 

The closure of most of Europe's airspace because of a huge cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano has cost the airline industry hundreds of millions of dollars, millions of passengers have been stranded, and importers and exporters have been hit.

 

The crisis has had a knock on effect across the world and its impact on everyday life in Europe has deepened. In Britain, companies reported staff had been unable to get back from Easter holidays abroad and hospitals said they were cancelling some operations because surgeons were stuck in far off places.

 

A senior European Union official said the current situation was not sustainable, as airlines called for a review of no-fly decrees after conducting test flights at the weekend without any apparent problems from the ash cloud.

 

"We cannot wait until the ash flows just disappear," said Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, adding that he hoped 50 percent of European airspace would be risk-free on Monday.

 

Spain's EU affairs minister Diego Lopez Garrido told reporters after a meeting at European aviation control agency Eurocontrol: "The forecast is that there will be half of flights possibly operating (on Monday)."

 

Italy and Austria said they would reopen affected airports on Monday.

 

Only 5,000 flights took place in European airspace on Sunday, compared with 24,000 normally, Eurocontrol said. It said 63,000 flights had been cancelled since Thursday.

 

EU transport ministers will discuss the crisis in a video conference on Monday that Spain has called in its capacity as the 27-nation bloc's president.

 

"We can examine the results of the test flights and look and see whether there is any updating of the regulatory structure which might make it possible for flights to take place," British Transport Minister Andrew Adonis told BBC television.

 

Dutch state broadcaster NOS quoted Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings as saying Europe's response to the ash cloud had been too severe, and that the United States did not completely close its airspace in response to similar eruptions.

 

The Dutch airline KLM, which has flown several test flights, said most European airspace was safe despite the plume of ash, and dispatched two commercial freight flights to Asia on Sunday.

 

Volcanic ash is abrasive and can strip off aerodynamic surfaces and paralyse an aircraft engine. Aircraft electronics and windshields can also be damaged.

 

RULE BOOK

 

Senior Eurocontrol official Brian Flynn said the International Civil Aviation Organisation published rules that needed to be adhered to worldwide, and guidelines to interpret at continental level.

 

"One could say that the guidelines are interpreted slightly more rigorously in Europe than in the United States, when it comes to responsibilities of air traffic control agencies and pilots," he said.

 

Iceland said tremors from the volcano had grown more intense but that the column of ash rising from it had eased back to 4-5 km (2.5-3 miles) from as high as 11 km when it began erupting on Wednesday from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier.

 

Weather experts said wind patterns meant the ash plume was not likely to move far until later in the week.

 

The shutdown poses a growing problem for airlines, estimated to be losing USD$200 million a day, and for the millions of travellers stranded worldwide.

 

The air travel disruption is the worst since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, when US airspace was closed for three days.

 

Britain said it was considering using the navy and requisitioning merchant ships to ferry home citizens stranded abroad. The response to the crisis is threatening to become an issue in the campaign for Britain's May 6 election.

 

The British travel agents' association ABTA said it had a rough estimate that about 150,000 Britons were stranded abroad.

 

"At no time in living memory has British airspace been shut down and affected this many people," said an ABTA spokeswoman.

 

The crisis is having an impact on international diplomacy, with Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani becoming the latest leader to abandon a visit to Europe. He was supposed to begin a trip to Paris, Brussels and Madrid on Monday.

 

For travellers, businesses and financial markets, the biggest problem is the sheer unpredictability of the situation.

 

Economists say they stand by their predictions for European growth, hoping normal air travel can resume this week.

 

But if European airspace were closed for months, one economist estimated lost travel and tourism revenue alone could knock 1-2 percentage points off regional growth. European growth had been predicted at 1-1.5 percent for 2010.

 

"That would mean a lot of European countries wouldn't get any growth this year," said Chatham House senior economic fellow Vanessa Rossi. "But the problem is it is incredibly hard to predict what will happen. Even the geologists can't tell us."

 

Disruption spread to Asia, where dozens of Europe-bound flights were cancelled and hotels from Beijing to Singapore strained to accommodate stranded passengers. In Tokyo, Japan Airlines said it had cancelled 44 European flights so far and All Nippon Airways put its cancellations at 27.

 

Many US airline flights to and from Europe were cancelled.

 

Russian airports remained open, routing planes to North America over the North Pole to avoid the ash cloud.

 

(Reuters)

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Airports And Airspace Closed By Ash Cloud

 

April 19, 2010

 

Large parts of Europe enforced no-fly rulings for a fourth day on Sunday because of a huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano that has caused the worst air travel chaos since the Sept. 11 attacks. Here is a list of countries as of 0645 GMT on Monday and their airspace status:

 

AUSTRIA - Airports open as of 0400 GMT Monday.

 

BOSNIA - Airports open.

 

BRITAIN - Airspace closed until at least 1800 GMT Monday. British Airways cancels all Monday flights.

 

BULGARIA - Sofia and Plovdiv airports open as of 1100 GMT Sunday. Other airports closed. Transit flights permitted at 8,000 metres (26,250 feet) altitude.

 

CZECH REPUBLIC - Airspace closed until at least 1000 GMT Monday.

 

DENMARK - Airspace closed until 1200 GMT Monday.

 

ESTONIA - Airspace closed until 1200 GMT Monday.

 

FINLAND - Airspace over two airports to open for six hours on Monday thanks to gaps in the ash cloud. Flights to operate from southwestern city of Turku and central city of Tampere between 0900 - 1500 GMT. Other airports remain shut.

 

FRANCE - Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse and several other southwest airports will remain open until at least 1300 GMT Monday. Airports north of Nice-Bordeaux line remain closed at least until Tuesday morning. Air France said a test flight from Paris to Toulouse on Sunday had ended without problems; tests continuing.

 

GERMANY - Airports shut until 1200 GMT Monday.

 

HUNGARY - Airspace to remain closed until at least 1000 GMT Monday, although some flights at the discretion of traffic control may be allowed to take off or land.

 

IRELAND - Airspace closed until at least 1200 GMT on Monday. Ryanair cancelled all flights to and from northern Europe until at least mid-Wednesday. Aer Lingus cancelled all flights on Monday.

 

ITALY - Northern airspace open as of 0500 GMT Monday.

 

LATVIA - Airspace above 6,000 metres (19,700 feet) now open for transit flights, but flights to and from Riga airport not expected to resume on Monday.

 

LITHUANIA - Airspace open.

 

MONTENEGRO - Airports open.

 

NETHERLANDS - Airspace shut until at least 1200 GMT Monday.

 

NORWAY - Oslo Gardermoen Airport open for some air traffic. Other parts of the country, such as parts of northern Norway, closed to traffic.

 

POLAND - Airports closed on Monday. Transit flights in airspace permitted, but not landings and take-offs.

 

ROMANIA - Airspace closed until at least 0900 GMT Monday.

 

RUSSIA - All airports open. Aeroflot is flying to the United States via the North Pole.

 

SERBIA - Airports open.

 

SLOVAKIA - Airspace closed as of 1300 GMT on Friday.

 

SPAIN - 17 airports open.

 

SWEDEN - Airspace open for flights north of a line stretching from the southern city of Gothenburg to Stockholm. SAS to make a decision later on Monday about resuming flights.

 

SWITZERLAND - Main carrier Swiss cancelled all European flights from and to Switzerland until Monday, 1800 GMT. Swiss also cancelled all intercontinental flights from Switzerland for all of Monday.

 

TURKEY - All airports open. Planes flying out of the Black Sea cities of Samsun, Sinop and Zonguldak have been advised not to fly higher than 6,000 metres.

 

UKRAINE - Kiev's Borispol airport open.

 

(Reuters)

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Qantas Says Disruptions Costing AUD$1.5 Mln Per Day

 

April 19, 2010

 

Australia's Qantas Airways said fight disruption on its European routes due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud was costing it about AUD$1.5 million (USD$1.37 million) a day.

 

Qantas on Monday cancelled flights to and from Europe for the next two days. The airline cancelled seven flights from Europe and five outbound flights for Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

"Next available services to Europe are not known at this time and cannot be confirmed until official notification from European authorities on when flights can resume," the airline said in a statement.

 

Qantas warned of days of flight delays due to backlog once flights resume.

 

"Qantas will be doing everything to meet passenger needs once flights into Europe are able to resume however access to UK and European airports will be difficult due to the backlog of flights from around the world," it said.

 

"This situation would be likely to continue for some days."

 

(Reuters)

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

btw: KLM estimates a daily loss of 7-10 mln EUR per day (note: this is only KLM and does not

account for the AF estimate !!!)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Royal Navy is sending its ships to Spain to pickup stranded Brits.

 

It was reported that some paid thousands of GBP to hire taxi to drive back to UK.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It took me almost £2000 to get back from Madrid to London by train. The journey was from Saturday 17 April 2010 and arriving in London late Sunday afternoon on 18 April 2010. The trains are booked solid until Wednesday especially on the Eurostar from Paris to London. It took me 6.5 hours RENFE train journey from Madrid to Hendayas (border with France) and with SCNF TGV train another 6.5 hours from Hendayas to Paris. This was after 3 hours wait. Arriving Paris late at night and forced to stay overnight. Managed to book on-line the Eurostar after 6 hours (this was done on Friday after the cancellation announcement was made)of pressing buttons on the computer. Internet line was jam packed. Got home to England after a long stressful journey. Gare du Nord in Paris was a mad house with people shouting, screaming, crying trying to get on trains. Most ended up having to wait in Paris for a minimum of 3 more days. What an adventure.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

According to a.net following KLM flight to operate as of last night.

 

KL809 AMS-KUL will leave tonight. No passengers, only cargo !

KL877 AMS-BKK will leave tonight. No passengers, only cargo !

KL835 AMS-SIN-CGK will leave tongith. No passengers, only cargo !

 

Pieter can you confirm this? Also will the flight from KUL-AMS (PH-BVD) fly back to AMS as well?

 

Only PH-BFD and PH-CKB left AMS as posted b4. KUL and SIN didn't fly out.

Today a 737 left AMS for CDG, also no pax.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Emirates lose US$10m a day due to volcanic ash crisis

 

2010/04/19

 

 

DUBAI: The ongoing volcanic ash phenomenon which has thrown European air travel into chaos, has already cost Emirates Airline US$50 million.

 

The Dubai-based carrier said it was losing revenue from 18,000 passengers a day as airspace across the United Kingdom and much of Europe remained closed.

 

Around 30 Emirates aircraft were grounded, equivalent to one fifth of the fleet, a company statement said, adding that over 80,000 passengers had been impacted by the ongoing disruption.

 

"Like every carrier operating to Europe, Emirates is facing huge losses, US$10 million a day in our case," Emirates Airline President Tim Clark was quoted as saying in the statement.

 

"These are losses which are coming straight out of our own pocket. But despite this not being a crisis of our own making, we're doing everything possible to minimise the impact on customers," he said.

 

The airline boss said the scale of the crisis was unlike anything he had experienced in his career.

 

Clark said Emirates would continue to provide hotel accommodation for all passengers who were in transit in Dubai when the disruption began.

 

"We'll also do everything we can to get our operation moving quickly once approval to fly has been received," he added.

 

Currently, Emirates is not accepting passengers for travel to any European destinations, excluding Moscow, Athens, Larnaca, Malta and Istanbul, until April 20.

 

The airline is providing accommodation and three meals per day for approximately 6,000 passengers who were in transit, when the disruption began, at a cost of more than US$1 million per day.

 

Customers affected by the disruption can cancel their booking or change their onward destination without charge.

 

Emirates has waived all re-issue and cancellation fees while the crisis is ongoing. - Bernama

 

AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman Rani is now stuck in Paris BTW.

 

This is what Mr. Fernandes posted in his Twitter:

tonyfernandes running a campaign tmw. Rescue europe. If you stuck in asia just bring your ticket to an airasia counter and for 99 ringitt u go anywhere.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Monday April 19, 1530

 

The volcanic eruption has reduced and the volcano is not currently emitting ash to altitudes that will affect the UK. Assuming there are no further significant ash emissions we are now looking at a continuously improving situation.

 

Based on the latest information from the Met Office, NATS advises that the restrictions currently in place across UK controlled airspace will remain in place until 0700 (local time) tomorrow, Tuesday.

 

From 0700 (local time) tomorrow, Tuesday, Scottish airspace will be open, and south to a line between Teesside and Blackpool. Mainland Scottish airports will be open.

 

This is a dynamic and changing situation and is therefore difficult to forecast beyond 0700 local; however, the latest Met Office advice is that the contaminated area will continue to move south with the possibility that restrictions to airspace above England and Wales, including the London area, may be lifted later tomorrow (Tuesday).

 

We will continue to monitor Met Office information and review our arrangements in line with that. We will advise further arrangements at approximately 2100 (local time), today.

 

It is now for airports and airlines to decide how best to utilise this opportunity. Passengers should contact their airlines to find out how this will affect their travel plans.

 

Source: www.nats.co.uk

 

Finally we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.... but I'm still keeping my fingers crossed!

 

Singapore Airlines phoned me up just after 4pm, approx 30 minutes after the above statement is released. They managed to rebook me into a Wednesday night departure, connecting me to the Singapore - Brisbane flight I was originally booked on under the same itinerary. As I have given up my outbound stopover in Singapore, I have changed the dates for BNE-SIN allowing me to make a brief stopover in Singapore on the way back to London. All these are done in less than 5 minutes.

 

Pretty impressive I would say!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

HC Chai : WOW!!! How I envy you!!!

 

You were contacted by Singapore Airlines about being rebooked.

 

I could not even expect to be contacted by KLM as they have clearly stated that they only wanted passengers to call the Call Centre in Chile!!! And when I could not get on the MD-11 3.5hrs ago, I went to KLM's downtown office and guess what, they called in extra security guards to keep passengers away from their office.

 

Only after the Ecuadorian and Spanish-speaking passengers began to take on really angry tones did they finally send down this weasal of a guy with a bunch of numbers to allow a few at a time to take the elevator to its 11-storey office. And when I reached that office, I know that one must be prepared for the longhaul.

 

Thankfully for me, my friends in the Netherlands went calling KLM on my behalf and finally got one sympathetic and human staff to help me rebook on an alternative route.

 

The good thing is I shall not have to face the very arrogant KLM staff at the airport again ... but the bad thing is when I depart, my check-in counter is next to KLM's and I shall be seeing lines of desperate people trying and hoping to get on the KLM flight. And I know what they went through and what state of desperation they are in.

 

So for the first time tomorrow morning, I need not make the pre-dawn journey with my suitcases to the airport and return later with yet more dented hopes. Henceforth, I swear that any routing via Houston using the combined netowrks of Star Alliance carriers is a far better option.

 

Congrats HC Chai. Glad that at least someone has a positive resolution.

 

KC Sim

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Dutch airspace opens tonight/19apr10: 1st flights are to JFK,PVG and DXB... :yahoo:

 

It will take about 24 hrs. before the regular schedule/timetable can be flown... :sorry:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

April 19, 2010 21:15 PM

 

MAS Mounts B747 Aircraft Into Rome

 

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 (Bernama)-- Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will be mounting a B747 aircraft with a 352-seat capacity at 11.45 tonight to provide more Europe-bound passengers the option to fly into Rome.

 

This would offer passengers an additional 68 seats, compared with the B777 aircraft, which is normally deployed, MAS said in a statement.

 

The national carrier said an additional flight to Rome was also planned this Wednesday on a B777 aircraft, subject to airspace approval and weather updates.

 

MAS flies three times weekly to Rome on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

 

"Passengers who take up this option will be responsible for onward travel to their final destination once they arrive in Rome," it said.

 

Sunday, MAS' flight to Rome departed on schedule at 11.45 pm with a load of 246 passengers. It was the sole flight to Europe out of the KL International Airport (KLIA).

 

The flight from Rome to Kuala Lumpur departed at 1.45pm local time this afternoon with 270 passengers.

 

MAS said flights to London, Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt on April 20 remained cancelled.

 

MAS said passengers affected by flight cancellations would be given three options -- full refund, exchange of tickets for future flights, re-booking on the next available flight.

 

Transit passengers could claim for unutilised portions of travel from the MAS ticket offices upon returning to their original destination.

 

Passengers can also make travel date changes by April 22 and the travel period can be deferred until May 31, and claims for refunds can be made by April 22.

 

MAS has opened a new telephone line, 03-7884 1234, for stranded passengers in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Passengers are urged to check the flight status before going to the airport and to call MAS' call centre at 1300-88-3000 (within Malaysia) or 603-78433000 (outside Malaysia) for help.

 

-- BERNAMA

 

A good way to utilise the lazy big sisters.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...