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A series of new rules will allow aircraft to fly through double the volume of volcanic ash, equivalent to ‘two grains of sand in a bathtub.’ The safe maximum has been changed from 0.002 to 0.004 grams per cubic metre – still a tiny figure, but sufficient to prevent 94% of all ash-related delays.
The change was ‘encouraged’ by airline bosses, who have been vocal critics of the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) trigger-happy attitude to airspace closures since the eruption of Eyjafjoll began in mid-April. The problem was compounded last week, when the CAA closed UK airspace for an ash cloud that didn't exist.
British Airways boss, Willie Walsh, called the flight bans a ‘gross overreaction to a very minor risk,’ whilst Richard Branson was concerned that the number of flight cancellations had got ‘beyond a joke.’ Ryanair founder, Michael O’Leary also criticised the CAA’s ‘outdated, inappropriate, and imaginary’ ash tracking models.
Leeds-based airline, Flybe, became the first carrier to adopt the CAA’s new rules, which require all aeroplanes to have ash-tolerant engines, or at least, permission to fly from their engine manufacturer. Flybe bosses predict that just 21 flights would have been cancelled last month if the new rules had been implemented sooner, rather than 380.
Iceland’s Met Office released a statement on Monday claiming that Eyjafjoll was now venting steam rather than ash. The news looks promising for aviation bosses, but experts have warned that several other volcanoes near Eyjafjoll could be stirring.
Thor Thordarson, a volcanologist at Edinburgh University, predicts that up to four Icelandic volcanoes could erupt within the next few years – Grimsvotn, whose 1996 eruption destroyed Iceland’s main ring road, Hekla and Askja volcanoes, and Eyjafjoll’s larger neighbour, Katla.
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