Official: Ash will cancel up to 500 flights

[May 24, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- Dense ash from the erupting Icelandic volcano forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights Tuesday, as airlines and passengers braced themselves for days of uncertainty and chaos.

Some passengers spent the night at Edinburgh airport after airlines canceled flights in and out of Scotland. Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said there was high-density ash in the skies above parts of Scotland by late Tuesday morning, and that it was likely to affect northern England and Northern Ireland in the afternoon.

The Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland began erupting on Saturday, sending clouds of ash high into the air that have then been carried toward the British Isles on the wind. Experts say that particles in the ash could stall jet engines and sandblast planes' windows.

Brian Flynn, head of network operations at Eurocontrol said between 200 and 250 flights had already been canceled, and warned that up 500 flights could be affected.

British Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said there had also been some "modest delays" to flights crossing the Atlantic, as aircraft need to avoid areas of high ash concentration. He added that there may be more delays later this week.

Hammond said the British government's crisis committee would meet later Tuesday, to discuss the issue. Prime Minister David Cameron's office said ministers had also discussed the issue at a morning Cabinet meeting.

The ash cloud forced President Barack Obama to shorten a visit to Ireland on Monday, and has raised fears of a repeat of huge travel disruptions in Europe last year when emissions from another of Iceland's volcanos, Eyjafjalljokull, stranded millions of passengers.

Last year, European aviation authorities closed vast swaths of European airspace as soon as they detected the presence of even a small amount of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. This year, they are trying a more sophisticated approach.

Aviation authorities will give airlines information detailed information about the location and density of ash clouds. Any airline that wants to fly through the ash cloud can do so, if they can convince their own national aviation regulators it is safe to do so.

But the approach has already caused confusion. Budget airline Ryanair complained that the Irish Aviation Authority has ordered it to cancel flights from Ireland to Scotland. It said it has carried out its own flights to measure the ash cloud in Scottish airspace and did not detect any volcanic ash in the atmosphere over Scotland. The aviation authority insisted the ash cloud was there.

Other airlines decided not to take any risks. British Airways suspended all its flights for Tuesday morning between London and Scotland, while Dutch carrier KLM and budget airline easyJet canceled flights to and from Scotland and northern England at the same time. Three domestic airlines also announced flight disruptions.

Norwegian airport operator Avinor said the ash cloud that swept over southwestern Norway earlier Tuesday has now moved away from the coast and no longer affects the airports in Stavanger and Karmoey. However, it said the ash is expected to return to southern Norway in the afternoon.

[Associated Press; By MEERA SELVA and SLOBODAN LEKIC]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.