The Volcano in Iceland, Ejafjoll sp?, could disrupt business and travel to SoWal. Volcanoes are very serious business for airlines. A number of airports are closed, including Heathrow. We were delayed for six days once because a volcano erupted near us. On the way back from SoWal, our flight was delayed another three days because the volcano had erupted again. Tip, don't wait for the airlines to get you a room, flight or transportation anywhere. We had learned on the first eruption. We immediately hired a taxi to take us to a local hotel rather than wait for an airport shuttle. Airport personnel had tried to discourage us from doing this. We declined to acquiesce to their request. Three hours later, people who had been on the plane with us arrived at hotel to inadequate rooms, etc. Several fights had broke out, or so we heard, of people in line waiting for transportation. This is the second time in four weeks this volcano has erupted. So travelers in and out of SoWal beware. Many international flights use the path over Iceland/Greenland.
Replies
35
Moderator
according to the Washington Post...
All non-emergency flights to and from British airports were banned from noon until at least 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. in Washington). Swedish authorities said they would shut their airspace from 10 p.m. local time. Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and Finland also announced they would shut down their airspace, according to the Associated Press.
It's the second largest disruption of air traffic second only to the 9/11 aftermath...
All non-emergency flights to and from British airports were banned from noon until at least 6 p.m. local time (1 p.m. in Washington). Swedish authorities said they would shut their airspace from 10 p.m. local time. Ireland, Denmark, Norway, and Finland also announced they would shut down their airspace, according to the Associated Press.
It's the second largest disruption of air traffic second only to the 9/11 aftermath...
Beach Fanatic
Could get very interesting and inconvenient since the last time the volcano in question was active around 1820, eruptions went on for a good two years.
SoWal Expert
Wow, based on my mental picture of different airline maps this is a real cluster as most flights connect through hub airports located in those countries or fly over them due to curvature.
Luckily they have a great train system so people aren't COMPLETELY stranded, but I am betting the airline industry is going to get one heck of a kick in the teeth!
Luckily they have a great train system so people aren't COMPLETELY stranded, but I am betting the airline industry is going to get one heck of a kick in the teeth!
Beach FanaticAuthor
And, better check the weather where you're flying into or around this thing. The year the volcano went off and gave us a six day flight, by the time we landed in Florida, the Panama City airport was closed due to ice and snow. Luckily, we were flying into Pensacola and could land and just had to endure an ice and snow covered I-10 with many drivers who had never seen snow. We barely got out of Atlanta on the way to Pensacola. And... it didn't help that a baggage handler was run over by a cart behind the right wing of our plane which delayed our departure a bit more. Actually witnessed that out the window of our boarded airplane. I :funn: at people who complain about an hour or two delay. 
Watch out for ground travel as well. They don't recommend running your car through volcanic ash either. Will be interesting to see what happens to train and bus travel.
Watch out for ground travel as well. They don't recommend running your car through volcanic ash either. Will be interesting to see what happens to train and bus travel.
Beach Fanatic
Smoke and steam hangs over the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland, Wednesday April 14, 2010, which has erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters. Volcanic ash drifting across the Atlantic forced the cancellation of flights in Britain and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe, stranding thousands of passengers. Flights in and out of London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, were halted, and the shutdowns and cancellations spread to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. The volcano's smoke and ash poses a threat to aircraft because it can affect visibility, and microscopic debris can get sucked into airplane engines and can cause them to shut down.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
beats on hood
Hubby is supposed to leave for Frankfurt tomorrow for a trip to Germany and Switzerland. Frankfurt airport closed this AM. 
Beach FanaticAuthor
I wonder what is going to happen to all the international visitors in the USA that are only allowed a 3 month stay. What if their time is up today, tomorrow or soon. With the Patriot Act they must leave after three months or they are subject to arrest. What if they can't leave due to this volcano or at least return to their home country? Will the airlines reroute them to some nonaffected island in the Atlantic, Pacific or Arctic Oceans until airspace is clear in their part of the world?
Beach Fanatic
Smoke and steam hangs over the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland, Wednesday April 14, 2010, which has erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters. Volcanic ash drifting across the Atlantic forced the cancellation of flights in Britain and disrupted air traffic across northern Europe, stranding thousands of passengers. Flights in and out of London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, were halted, and the shutdowns and cancellations spread to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland. The volcano's smoke and ash poses a threat to aircraft because it can affect visibility, and microscopic debris can get sucked into airplane engines and can cause them to shut down.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Such beauty in the face of destruction...
Moderator
Hubby is supposed to leave for Frankfurt tomorrow for a trip to Germany and Switzerland. Frankfurt airport closed this AM.
I hear that Helen in the N GA mountains is very Germanic. Maybe he can go there if his flight gets cancelled.
Moderator
I wonder what is going to happen to all the international visitors in the USA that are only allowed a 3 month stay. What if their time is up today, tomorrow or soon. With the Patriot Act they must leave after three months or they are subject to arrest. What if they can't leave due to this volcano or at least return to their home country? Will the airlines reroute them to some nonaffected island in the Atlantic, Pacific or Arctic Oceans until airspace is clear in their part of the world?
I'm sure common sense will prevail.
Wait...what?
Nevermind...
beats on hood
I hear that Helen in the N GA mountains is very Germanic. Maybe he can go there if his flight gets cancelled.
But his customer is in Germany.;-) He just got an email from Delta that his flight has been cancelled.
Moderator
But his customer is in Germany.;-) He just got an email from Delta that his flight has been cancelled.
Yeah...it's hurtin' us pretty badly...
beats on hood
Yeah...it's hurtin' us pretty badly...I hope not too badly. My brother is a Delta employee. Here's the message:
SoWal Insider
Maybe fly south and take the train in? A friend I ran into this evening had a hard time leaving Venice this morning and took a crazy route through Milan after a public boat, train and shuttle to the airport, but made it home. $200MM a day is lost and that's only the European flights being cancelled. I wonder what will be the insurance cost of this?
beats on hood
Apparently everyone else has the same idea (getting there via a strange route). Hubby was on hold with Delta for.ev.er and that plan didn't work. He could book a flight that would give him Thursday and Friday in Germany, but then waste a weekend waiting for Monday.
Daughter's Senior Art Show is the next week -- can't miss that. So he's going the next week.
Lufthansa has cancelled ALL FLIGHTS WORLDWIDE today. Luftfahrt-Chaos in Europa: Aschewolke breitet sich aus!
BTW I'm thinking about going to Freaknic today. Wanna go?
Our daughter and her fiance live in Midtown. She said it wasn't bad last night.
Daughter's Senior Art Show is the next week -- can't miss that. So he's going the next week.
Lufthansa has cancelled ALL FLIGHTS WORLDWIDE today. Luftfahrt-Chaos in Europa: Aschewolke breitet sich aus!
BTW I'm thinking about going to Freaknic today. Wanna go?
Our daughter and her fiance live in Midtown. She said it wasn't bad last night.Edited
SoWal Insider
ARGH! Freak Nik!
Did not leave my neighborhood last night. Can't believe it's back in town. Same weekend as Dogwood Festival, though! Can you imagine the grid lock that WILL occur today and through the evening? Come on up~~~~~
Did not leave my neighborhood last night. Can't believe it's back in town. Same weekend as Dogwood Festival, though! Can you imagine the grid lock that WILL occur today and through the evening? Come on up~~~~~
beats on hood
ARGH! Freak Nik!I hear ya. Also Hawks and Braves games and the robotics competition at the Georgia Dome.
Did not leave my neighborhood last night. Can't believe it's back in town. Same weekend as Dogwood Festival, though! Can you imagine the grid lock that WILL occur today and through the evening? Come on up~~~~~
Our daughter and I had planned to shop today. NOT! I remember being stuck during Freaknic on the Buckhead Loop near Peachtree for about an hour-and-a-half by the Freaknickers (say that fast a few times
). We were surrounded by a bunch of fancy and/or pimped out cars. The well-dressed and/or skanky-dressed occupants got out of their cars and started partying in the street. It was CRAZY.Back to volcanos, if the bigger one nearby erupts, hubby might not get to Germany until December.
Beach Fanatic
$200MM a day is lost
that's gonna sting...
Beach Fanatic
The White House announced Saturday that President Obama has canceled his trip to Poland for the funeral of the late President Lech Kaczynski because of the volcanic ash from Iceland that is grounding air travel across Europe.
President Obama joins a list that includes Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Finnish President Tarja Halonen. Other delegations from Egypt, Macedonia, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and Pakistan also canceled plans to attend the state funeral.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/0...out-obama-cancels-trip-to-poland-for-leaders/http://www.aolnews.com/world/articl...s-toll-1-week-after-presidents-crash/19443782
President Obama joins a list that includes Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and Finnish President Tarja Halonen. Other delegations from Egypt, Macedonia, India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and Pakistan also canceled plans to attend the state funeral.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/0...out-obama-cancels-trip-to-poland-for-leaders/http://www.aolnews.com/world/articl...s-toll-1-week-after-presidents-crash/19443782
Edited
Beach FanaticAuthor
Hi Minnie. Heard Disney World was offering a free day pass to international travelers stranded in the area.beats on hood
5 million people stranded, $200 million lost by airlines per day, the London Marathon has been cancelled, a group of kids from Durham have been told that they will be stranded in Beijing until May 4, Cambridge University has cancelled final exams, ...
Just a few random facts/stories about the effects of the volcano. Volcanic ash grounds Britain for days to come -Times Online
Also we saw on TV a story about many people who live near international airports in the US opening their homes to stranded travelers. How sweet is that!
Just a few random facts/stories about the effects of the volcano. Volcanic ash grounds Britain for days to come -Times Online
Also we saw on TV a story about many people who live near international airports in the US opening their homes to stranded travelers. How sweet is that!
beats on hood
An aside to Lynnie re Freaknic...
Our daughter said that the only crowds she saw from Freaknic were kids buying art supplies at Sam Flax.
Apparently it was a non-event. The police department kept tight control over the traffic and kept it moving from what she saw and what we heard on the news. There were also a lot of cops on Segways. Our daughter said she saw a quite a few black kids arrested or harrassed by cops if they just stood on the sidewalk or paused to cross the street until the pedestrian light turned white. Apparently the cops were using loitering as the reason. She said it was basically like their attitude was, "Homie, if you be black, you'd better not stop on the sidewalk or you be in jail." She was angry and thought that the police overdid it and that it verged upon racist.
That being said, I'm glad the police didn't let things get out of control as in past years.
Back to the volcano ...
Our daughter said that the only crowds she saw from Freaknic were kids buying art supplies at Sam Flax.
Apparently it was a non-event. The police department kept tight control over the traffic and kept it moving from what she saw and what we heard on the news. There were also a lot of cops on Segways. Our daughter said she saw a quite a few black kids arrested or harrassed by cops if they just stood on the sidewalk or paused to cross the street until the pedestrian light turned white. Apparently the cops were using loitering as the reason. She said it was basically like their attitude was, "Homie, if you be black, you'd better not stop on the sidewalk or you be in jail." She was angry and thought that the police overdid it and that it verged upon racist.
That being said, I'm glad the police didn't let things get out of control as in past years.
Back to the volcano ...
SoWal Insider
Beach Fanatic
Iceland's disruptive volcano - The Big Picture - Boston.com
More from Eyjafjallajokull - The Big Picture - Boston.com
Neat!
Thanks for sharing, those are amazing photos.
SoWal Insider
Wow, 30ashopper!
The Earth truly is magnificent! I am intrigued with the lightning. Found this link.
Dirty Thunderstorm Photos: Iceland Volcano Lightning Pictures | NowPublic News Coverage
BR, freaknik was a bust, thankfully. Considering the history, I don't think the police were exhibiting racists tendencies. At least, I hope not.
The Earth truly is magnificent! I am intrigued with the lightning. Found this link.
Dirty Thunderstorm Photos: Iceland Volcano Lightning Pictures | NowPublic News Coverage
BR, freaknik was a bust, thankfully. Considering the history, I don't think the police were exhibiting racists tendencies. At least, I hope not.
Checking your forum account
Please wait while we verify your forum account.