Warning of new Icelandic volcano eruption

Travel Weekly: Warning of new Icelandic volcano eruption
The travel industry could face a re-run of last year’s Icelandic ash cloud crisis as a larger volcano next to the one that erupted last year looks set to blow.

Geologists monitoring seismic activity around Bárdarbunga, the island’s second largest volcano, last week warned there was “every reason to worry” that an eruption was going to happen.

Last year the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano caused the closure of British and European airspace on three separate occasions grounding flights and causing multi-million pound losses for airlines and tour operators.

Although last year’s crisis forced the government to agree new safety standards, there are fears that any eruption this year could plunge the industry into the same situation.

Francesa Ecsery, Cheapflights global sales director, said: “My concern is we have not done our homework on volcanic ash.

“Last year it closed down the airspace, but that can’t possibly be the answer. I’m worried we have not used the time properly between last year and now to examine this and the next time this happens we are going to have an issue.”

Ecsery said the UK should have experts in part of the world that regularly have to cope with this problem to devise a plan that will allow UK airspace to remain open in the event of another eruption sending ash towards Britain.

The British government faced criticism from some in the airline industry over the way it handled last year’s ash crisis with some saying it was an over-reaction.
But the CAA, the safety body that overseas air transport insisted it was acting in the best interests of air passengers.

A CAA spokesman said: "Aviation is in a better place to respond to volcanic ash than in April last year. In the last six months a huge amount of work has been done to improve our ability to safely mitigate disruption from ash.

"Of course there is still more work to be done with the international aviation industry to further improve the situation. However, in the exceptional circumstance that there is an eruption, with dense ash and the weather is unfavourable, while we will all try to reduce disruption, we will put safety first. "

The last recorded eruption of Bárdarbunga was in 1910, although this was minor in comparison to the last major eruption in 1477. The volcano is responsible for the largest lava flow on the planet in the last 10,000 years.