Warning over fresh ash chaos as flights return
Airline schedules were returning to normal tonight as aviation chiefs warned a volcanic ash plume could wreak more travel havoc in the coming days.
There was good news for thousands of passengers when the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) lifted a blanket no-fly zone after six hours of crippling cancellations.
The relief could prove short-lived, however, with forecasters predicting more ash from the Icelandic volcano will blow down over the country later this week.
Large queues formed at Dublin Airport’s information desks as people applied for refunds and desperately tried to reschedule holidays and business trips.
Ryanair said 15,000 passengers had been hit by more than 100 flight cancellations during the morning airspace closure.
The low-cost carrier has laid on 15 extra flights to repatriate stranded customers, just weeks after the ash cloud forced a seven-day shutdown of much of Europe’s airspace last month.
Around 14,000 Aer Lingus passengers had their flights called off, with the airline warning weather would determine if there was any further disruption later in the week.
The IAA is continuing to monitor the direction of ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, while Met Eireann has said north-easterly winds could create problems overnight tomorrow and into Thursday.
The flight restrictions meant Transport Minister Noel Dempsey could not travel to Brussels for a special EU meeting to address the ash cloud crisis.
The minister, who was represented instead by Ireland’s deputy permanent representative to the EU, called for a European action plan to deal with the situation as it continued to evolve.
“Safety is at the heart of Europe’s response and it was appropriate that a significant part of the discussion this morning focused on the development of appropriate risk assessment methodologies to deal with potential future threats,” he added.
“I will remain in close touch with my European colleagues in the lead-up to our next meeting on June 24 to ensure that all appropriate measures to provide a sustainable solution to the impact of volcanic ash at EU level are progressed as quickly as possible.”
Despite the lifting of the airspace closure, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) urged people to contact their airline before travelling to the airport.
“When flights resumed it was very busy but it went well,” spokeswoman Siobhan Moore said.
“It will be pretty much back to normal tomorrow unless the IAA dictates that that’s not the case.”
Meanwhile, IAA chief executive Eamon Brennan forecast months of uncertainty as a result of the volcanic ash cloud.
“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he told RTE radio.
“There’s no doubt about it, we’re probably facing a summer of uncertainly due to this ash cloud.
“All we can do is call it for safety reasons.”
