Airlines fight ash effect by changing routes

Ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano, which began erupting on April 14, is back to haunt international travellers.

Scores of flights in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and France were cancelled on Sunday as some airspace was closed because of the ash cloud drifting over from Iceland.

Airlines flying to and from India over European airspace have changed their routes leading to marginal delays. They said taking a longer route was better than cancelling flights.

“The arrival of our long-haul flights like the Toronto-London-Amritsar and the one from New York (John F Kennedy airport) to Mumbai is delayed by two hours,” said an Air India spokesperson.

“This is because our aircraft flying from the transatlantic region (which is closed) have taken alternate routes. This is more time- and fuel-consuming.”

A Jet Airways spokesperson said six of their transatlantic flights — from Brussels to North America and back — are running late. “This is because we have taken a different path through the polar route leading to marginal delays. But there are no flight cancellations,” he said.

Airlines have been carrying extra fuel since May 4 when the volcanic ash resurfaced and sent a new plume of 5.5km in the air.

International travellers had a harrowing time on Sunday as 39 flights were grounded in Lisbon, Portugal, while 300 and 30 flights were cancelled in Milan and Turin respectively.

In France, airspace remained open, but at least 70 flights bound for southern Europe were grounded at airports in Paris, Lyon, and Nice, the nearest international airport to Cannes which is to host its flagship international film festival in three days’ time.

More than 900 flights were cancelled in Spain late on Saturday, though things were returning to normal on Sunday.

The Eyjafjoell volcano caused travel chaos worldwide with airspaces closed over several European nations for a week because of fears the ash would damage aircraft engines with fatal results.

It was the biggest aerial shutdown in Europe since World War II, with more than 100,000 flights cancelled affecting some eight million passengers.

The airline industry estimated losses of about $3.2 billion because of the closure of airspace.