Volcanic ash shuts Irish airports as 'no-fly' zone reinstated

FLIGHTS ARE to be grounded at all Irish airports until at least 1pm today following the return of the volcanic ash cloud which caused the cancellation of about 100,000 flights over six days last month.

The Irish Aviation Authority last night decided to impose a “no-fly zone” over Ireland from 7am this morning under advice from the Volcanic Ash Advice Centre in London that there was a risk of “ash ingestion” to aircraft engines.

The authority said the decision was based on the safety risks to crews and passengers and follows a change in the weather resulting in the ash cloud being pushed south over the country by northerly winds.

The flight ban applies to Dublin, Shannon, Galway, Sligo, Ireland West (Knock), Donegal, Cork and Kerry airports. However, a spokeswoman for Belfast International Airport last night said it had no plans to close today.

Flights from the UK and mainland Europe are also due to operate normally today. Over-flights of Ireland from the UK and Europe are unaffected because ash concentrations do not affect the airspace above 20,000 feet.

The authority said it would review the situation this morning and advised passengers to contact their airline’s website for information.

Aer Lingus has cancelled all its UK and European flights to and from Irish airports until 1pm. It plans to operate all flights to the US with the exception of EI 105 from Dublin to New York but said there may be delays to transatlantic flights. Ryanair has cancelled its flights up to 2pm. Irish Ferries said it had “plenty of space” on all of its services to Britain today.

The winds are set to stay in a northerly direction for the coming days, Met Éireann forecaster Joan Blackburn said last night. But this did not necessarily mean prolonged flight disruption, she said.

During the last flight ban there was a “zero-tolerance” for ash in the atmosphere but decisions to close airspace are now based on the particular levels of ash concentration, she explained.

“Current charts show that the concentration is at its highest between 7am and 1pm. We will have to wait for the next set of charts to see if that changes, but after 1pm it may not be as high.”

A spokesman for the aviation authority said today’s closure was not due to any further eruptions at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, but was due solely to a change in the winds which had been keeping the cloud away for the last two weeks.

This is the first closure of Irish airspace since restrictions were lifted on April 20th following six days of suspension which resulted in the cancellation of 100,000 flights internationally, and disruption to about 10 million passengers. The crisis is estimated to have cost the airline industry up to €2.5 billion.

The Dublin Airport Authority estimated it lost €7-8 million as a result of the cancellation of 3,200 flights, affecting 400,000 passengers, during the previous shutdown.

The latest closure will be a further blow to financially decimated airlines, which were last week told by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey that the Government would not pay out compensation to the industry for financial losses due to the shutdown of European airspace.

Mr Dempsey’s comments dashed hopes generated by the European Commission the previous day when it said governments could provide support to the airlines as long as it did not amount to “unfair assistance” undermining competition.

The Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport estimated about €50 million of normal inbound tourism revenue was lost to Ireland over the period of the closed airspace.