Return of the ash

ALL flights in and out of this country have been grounded since 7am as northerly winds have driven clouds of Icelandic volcano ash back into Irish airspace.

Last night, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said Irish airspace was declared a “no-fly zone” in accordance with recently agreed Euro-wide safety regulations.

The IAA last night grounded “all flights in and out of Ireland” from 7am until 1pm, when the situation will be reviewed.

“Passengers are advised not to travel to their departure airport if their flight has been cancelled,” said the authority in a statement.

It advised all passengers intending to travel from Irish airports today to check each airline’s website.

The authority is hoping that restrictions on Dublin and Shannon airports might be eased this afternoon while the situation regarding Cork airport remained unclear.

Almost 440 flights were due to depart and fly into Dublin airport throughout the day, with more from Shannon and Cork facing disruption.

Aer Lingus has warned passengers they face delays and cancellations.

In Ryanair’s case, all flights from 6am to 2pm today are cancelled.

Aer Arann last night cancelled services to and from Derry and Donegal airports.

And the skies over parts of Scotland were closed as a precaution last night. This was because the increased concentration of volcanic ash in the atmosphere was expected to exceed safety limits agreed by the Civil Aviation Authority and airlines in the Outer Hebrides.

The IAA said: “Current information from the Volcanic Ash Advice Centre (VAAC) suggests that a ‘no-fly zone’ will have to be imposed over Ireland that will affect Dublin, Shannon, Cork Galway, Sligo, Ireland West (Knock), Donegal, and Kerry.

“No flights will operate in or out of these airports.”

Over-flights of Ireland from Britain and Europe were not expected to be disrupted today and flights within mainland Europe are expected to operate normally.

“The decision is based on the safety risks to crews and passengers as a result of the drift south of the volcanic ash cloud caused by the north westerly winds,” the IAA statement added.

No scheduled flights were affected last night and intending air travellers have been advised to check latest updates on their airline websites.

Hundreds of thousands of travellers were left stranded last month when European airspace was closed for almost a week after eruptions from Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull sent massive ash plumes into the atmosphere. Even though emissions from the volcano have been comparatively low over the last number of days, the cloud which has drifted south has now impacted on Ireland and the western part of the Scottish Isles.

The plume of ash was reported to be sitting 20,000 feet over the country and weather forecasters do not expect the wind to change direction for some days.

The Volcanic Ash Advice Centre stressed that air traffic control organisations “need to react quickly” to their ash forecasts “so that aircraft can be diverted on to alternative safe tracks”.

IAA chief executive Eamon Brennan said even though emissions from the volcano have been low over the last number of days, a north-easterly wind pushed the plume over Ireland and the Scottish Isles.

He said that based on the new regime imposed in Europe last week, officials had no choice but to impose a no-fly zone and a 100km buffer zone which would effectively close Shannon and Dublin airports.

“What’s unusual about this is that we are the only country affected in Europe;, it may affect parts of Scotland later in the day,” he said.

Mr Brennan said the problem with the cloud is that the density levels are quite high.

“We are quite optimistic that it will dissipate and we are quite optimistic for Dublin and for Shannon tomorrow afternoon but we will make a reassessment for that in the morning.”

Last month, in the wake of the Eyjafjallajokull eruption, airlines lost at least €1.2 billion during the European-wide ash crisis.

The fallout from the six-day travel shutdown was “devastating” and prompted European governments to examine ways to compensate airlines for lost revenues.

It will take three years for the aviation industry to recover from the week of lost flying time that stranded millions around the globe.

At one stage last month, 29% of global aviation and 1.2 million passengers a day were affected by the airspace closures.

Last night, Irish Ferries said it had plenty of space available on all of its services to Britain on its four daily sailings from Dublin to Holyhead.