Risk of fresh ash cloud threatens European air travel
- 10 years ago
The risk to air travel around Europe has escalated. Iceland has just raised its risk level for an eruption of its Bardarbunga volcano to orange, the second-highest level.
Iceland’s met office said it has detected ongoing movement inside the volcano following an earthquake on Monday, the strongest quake in nearly 20 years.
Residents were evacuated from the immediate area around the mountain as a precaution.
If the Bardarbunga volcano does erupt, that may impact European air travel.
Four years ago, it was a different eruption that caused chaos. An ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano shut down much of Europe’s airspace for around a week.
The risk of an ash cloud this time round would depend on three main factors: how high any ash would be thrown, how much ash there would be, and how fine-grained it would be.
Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based organisation responsible for European air safety, said in a statement that it was following the situation closely.
Iceland’s met office said it has detected ongoing movement inside the volcano following an earthquake on Monday, the strongest quake in nearly 20 years.
Residents were evacuated from the immediate area around the mountain as a precaution.
If the Bardarbunga volcano does erupt, that may impact European air travel.
Four years ago, it was a different eruption that caused chaos. An ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano shut down much of Europe’s airspace for around a week.
The risk of an ash cloud this time round would depend on three main factors: how high any ash would be thrown, how much ash there would be, and how fine-grained it would be.
Eurocontrol, the Brussels-based organisation responsible for European air safety, said in a statement that it was following the situation closely.