AIR PASSENGERS face the threat of continued disruption in the coming days caused by volcanic ash from Iceland.
While there are unlikely to be any restrictions to Irish airspace today, Met Éireann said northerly winds later in the week would increase the chances of disruption to travel caused by ash from the Grímsvötn volcano, which erupted on Saturday.
The Irish Aviation Authority said all Irish airports would remain open today. However, due to restrictions in other European countries, a small number of flights may be affected.
Last night, the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London said there was a strong possibility the ash cloud could affect parts of Denmark, southern Norway, southwest Sweden and northern Germany today, with possible disruption to flights in to and out of these countries.
Passengers were being advised to check the status of the airports they were travelling to.
Met Éireann meteorologist Michelle Dillon said forecasters did not expect ash from the Grímsvötn volcano to pose any problems to airspace in Ireland today.
However, she described the picture over the coming days as “dynamic”, saying that changing winds and activity at the Icelandic volcano could move greater levels of ash particles over Ireland from the second half of tomorrow and into Friday.
Some 500 out of 29,000 flights were cancelled across Europe yesterday because of the cloud, the European air traffic management body Eurocontrol said.
The majority of these were in and out of airports in northern England and Scotland, the airspace over which was ordered to be closed by the UK’s civil aviation authority.
Glasgow Prestwick, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports remained closed throughout the day, prompting some airlines to accuse regulatory authorities of poorly managing an ash cloud for the second time in 13 months.
About 60 Ryanair and Aer Lingus flights cancelled as a result of the closure of Scottish airspace and some 1,000 passengers travelling from Ireland were affected.
Ryanair objected to the decision to close the three Scottish airports. Its chief executive Michael O’Leary said the airline had flown an aircraft through the area of high concentration, or red zone, over Scotland and found no trace of volcanic ash.
However, British transport secretary Philip Hammond said that radar track information suggested the Ryanair flight had not actually entered the “red zone”.
He said the airline had only confirmed what the authorities in Britain already knew, which was that “there was no ash in the areas where that aircraft flew”.
Ms Dillon said a westerly airflow had largely kept volcanic material away from Ireland so far but that a low-pressure band moving in from the Atlantic could bring northerly winds later in the week which would increase the chances of disruption in Irish airspace.
Advance Met Éireann forecasts said northerly winds would increase from fresh to strong, possibly reaching gale force near western coasts tomorrow.
Last year, the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland resulted in severe disruption to air travel in Europe, including the cancellation of 100,000 flights.
Ms Dillon said the problem then had been particularly acute because an anti-cyclone had settled over Ireland at the time.
She added that there was a light ash over parts of Ireland yesterday which she expected to clear last night, and the level was not significant enough to affect air travel.
Aer Lingus and Ryanair said last night they expected all of their services to operate today.
Ferry companies said they had experienced a significant increase in inquiries but that interest had not yet translated into bookings.
Stena Line said that traffic to its website had increased by more than one-third and that it was preparing its services for the possibility of increased passenger numbers.
Irish Ferries said it too had experienced an increase in inquiries but that people were holding off on booking tickets.