Dozens of flights grounded as ash cloud reaches Britain

A plane flies past smoke plume from the eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano, under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland May 21, 2011. Airlines began cancelling flights to Britain late on Monday because of an ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano reaching its airspace. – Reuters Photo

LONDON: Airlines halted dozens of flights on Tuesday after a plume of ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland blew over Britain, even forcing US President Barack Obama to revise his travel plans.
Barely a year after a similar eruption in Iceland forced the biggest closure of European airspace since World War II, Britain’s flagship carrier British Airways was the first to suspend flights from London to Scotland.
Dutch airline KLM, Irish carrier Aer Lingus and budget liner Easyjet then followed suit while some flights into the northeastern English city of Newcastle were cancelled.
Forecasters warned that the plume could reach the European mainland later in the week, threatening to disrupt planning for events ranging from the G8 summit to the Champion League final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
Low-budget airline Ryanair meanwhile said it would challenge advice from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) not to operate flights to Scotland until lunchtime.
“Following forecasts of significant volcanic ash in Scottish airspace, (we) have decided as a precaution that it will not operate any flights between London and Scotland on Tuesday … that arrive in Scotland before 2:00 pm or depart from Scotland before 2:00 pm,” a BA statement said.
“At present all other flights are unaffected,” it added.
The most high-profile victim of the chaos was Obama who was forced to leave Ireland a day ahead of schedule on Monday night to avoid being stranded there.
Obama is among the leaders of the world’s leading industrialised nations due to attend a summit in northern France from Thursday which could well be disrupted if the cloud goes further south.
Spanish football giants Barcelona said they would make a decision Tuesday regarding their travel plans for the Champions League final in London’s Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
When an Icelandic volcano erupted last year, the plume of ash arrived in Scotland before spreading quickly across Britain, shutting down the whole country’s airspace.
The ash then drifted across most of Europe, sparking the biggest shutdown of airspace in the post-war era.