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Post by Kiwithrottlejockey on Apr 20, 2010 21:00:44 GMT 12
Eruption Iceland's revenge?REUTERS | 2:01PM - Monday, 19 April 2010“The last wish of the Icelandic economy was to have its ashes scattered over Europe."
The ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland that has caused travel chaos across Europe has spawned numerous jokes on various Internet blog sites, Facebook and Twitter.
Iceland is only just emerging from the financial crisis and the North Atlantic island nation of just 320,000 has spent months wrangling with Britain and the Netherlands over debts incurred after its tops banks went under in 2008.
It owes the two countries some $5 billion as a result of its failed "Icesave" accounts, but many Icelanders fiercely oppose a repayment and say taxpayers should not have to pay for a mess left by private banks under the watch of other regulators.
"Icelandic taxpayer to Britons and Dutch: forget Icesave, kiss my ash!" one Twitter feed read.Is Iceland getting the last word?
Jeremy Warner, assistant editor of The Daily Telegraph, wrote in a blog: "Call it Iceland's revenge, but it appears there is no more effective a way for a small country to get its own back on a larger one than to have an erupting volcano in its midst."
No trade embargo, however effective, could compete, he said.
Air travel across much of Europe was paralysed for a fifth day as the cloud of volcanic ash drifted from Iceland and hung over the continent, threatening aircraft and leaving thousands of people stranded.
"We said ‘send cash’, not ash!" another posting read.www.stuff.co.nz/3597782/Eruption-Icelands-revenge ASH CLOUD: A plume of volcanic ash rises into the atmosphere from a crater under about 200 metres of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland. — REUTERS.VOLCANO FLOOD: An aerial photo from the Icelandic Coast Guard shows flood caused by a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjalla Glacier. The volcanic eruption Partially melted a glacier, setting off a major flood that threatened to damage roads and bridges and forcing hundreds to evacuate. — REUTERS.ASH CLOUD: A plume of volcanic ash rises six to 11km into the atmosphere, from a crater under 200m of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland. — REUTERS.VIEW FROM SPACE: The ice-covered summit of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano can be seen with fluid magma erupting and a lava flow spreading northeast, spilling into Hrunagil Gully in this image provided from NASA's Earth Observing (EO-1) satellite. — NASA/REUTERS.MURKY: A church, engulfed in ash from a nearby volcano, is seen near Vik April 16, 2010. — REUTERS.ERUPTION: Ash continues to billow from the volcano in Eyjafjallajokull, April 16, 2010. — REUTERS.COVERED: A view of the town of Vik, which suffered from power outages, due to ash dissipation, April 16, 2010. — REUTERS.FARMERS FEARS: Farmer Thorarinn Olafsson tries to lure his horse back to the stable as a cloud of black ash looms overhead in Drangshlid 2 at Eyjafjoll. — REUTERS.LIGHTING UP THE SKIES: Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, that has caused air travel chaos across Europe. — REUTERS.DIRTY WATER: A woman stands near a waterfall that has been dirtied by ash that has accumulated from the ash plume of an erupting volcano near Eyjafjallajokull. — REUTERS.LESS ASH: Molten lava shoots out of an erupting volcano near Eyjafjallajokull. — REUTERS.LAVA FLOW: Lava spews from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokull. — REUTERS. That unpronounceable Icelandic volcanoBy MICHAEL FIELD - Stuff.co.nz | 8:25AM - Tuesday, 20 April 2010It's the story everyone's talking about, with a name no one wants to say — Eyjafjallajokull.
Almost all broadcasters, after several days of making a hash of it, have given up and now it's just "the Icelandic volcano".
Radio New Zealand's veteran pronunciation guru Hewitt Humphrey says it is a word that gives them a lot of trouble.
"If you come across it in a script without warning, it is quite a mouthful."
Often the problem for broadcasters is that the struggle to say the name obscures the story itself.
"It can be quite a distraction if people are listening for it."
Radio New Zealand now tends to refer to it as the Icelandic volcano.
Mr Humphrey says the secret to handling such words is confidence: "If you can say whatever you want to say with confidence, you can get away with it."
The name means "(the) island-fells glacier".
The BBC's Pronunciation Unit's guide says the volcano should be pronounced AY-uh-fyat-luh-YOE-kuutl (-uh). That is -ay as in day, -fy as in few, -oe as in French coeur, -uu as in boot, the -tl as in atlas. The (-uh) is "a" as in ago.
But it has given some clever people from Iceland the chance to show their skills. They've not only posted the pronounciation of Eyjafjallajokull to YouTube - but also a collection of global broadcasters attempting it.www.stuff.co.nz/3599981/That-unpronounceable-Icelandic-volcano
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Post by Kiwithrottlejockey on May 18, 2010 17:17:28 GMT 12
Volcanic ash cloud: London's Heathrow reopensREUTERS with GLENDA KWEK & The Sydney Morning Herald | 6:38PM - Monday, 17 May 2010London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports have reopened after closing earlier today for six hours due to a volcanic ash cloud, but travel chaos is set to continue.
Knock-on effects were expected to hit passengers as the airports limited the amount of flights allowed to take-off and land following the closure.
Airports included in the no-fly zone include Heathrow, Gatwick and London City, as wells as are all airfields in Northern Ireland and airports in parts of Scotland, NATS said in a statement. Several airports were to remain closed until 1pm local time (2200 AEST), including Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Edinburgh and Inverness.
Airports in Amsterdam and Rotterdam also closed for eight hours, Dutch state television reported.
Ash from the same volcano wreaked havoc on European air traffic last month, when about 100,000 flights were cancelled, leaving millions of passengers stranded. Airlines lost $US1.7 billion ($1.9 billion), the International Air Transport Association said.
Air New Zealand warned earlier today that its flights to London could be disrupted at Hong Kong and Los Angeles tonight following the closure of Heathrow Airport in London due to ash from Iceland's volcano.
The airline's statement says flights NZ39 to London via Hong Kong and NZ2 to London via Los Angeles are still scheduled to operate tonight, but may be disrupted.
Meanwhile a current NZ2 flight which is now in Los Angeles has been delayed for departure to London by 19 hours.
"Should passengers still decide to travel on NZ2 and NZ39 this evening and there are disruptions to their plans, costs incurred will be at their expense," the airline says.
A Qantas spokeswoman said three of its flights to London were diverted.
"Of the three flights that left Asia overnight, two were diverted to Frankfurt and one landed in Dubai," she said.
"They will continue on to London as soon as possible."
The spokeswoman said the airline's flights out of London and Australia were not affected.
"At this stage, we will operate as normal and we advise passengers to travel to the airport.
"Qantas will be in touch with passengers if there are any changes," she said.
Singapore Airlines spokeswoman Susan Bredow said one of the airline's flights due to arrive in London was diverted to Paris, and another flight out of London was cancelled.
"There was a flight [SQ322] that was due to land in London in the morning. It's been diverted to Charles de Gaulle Airport, where it will wait until London opens again," Ms Bredow said.
"We've also cancelled a flight out of London. SQ317 is cancelled for the day and is rebooked for tomorrow.
"The other flights will operate as normal."
MAJOR DUTCH AIRPORTS SHUT
While Amsterdam and Rotterdam were closed, other Dutch airports were not be affected, Dutch television said.
But as Amsterdam and Rotterdam are the country's two main airports the closures will effectively bring most air traffic in and out of the country to a standstill.
Amsterdam Schiphol is Europe's third-largest cargo airport and fifth-largest passenger hub.
IRISH AIRPORTS CLOSED
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said three north-western airports were closed from early Sunday and hub Dublin would be shut from 1800 GMT until at least 1100 GMT on Monday. But it indicated that the disruption might not last very long.
"The outlook later tomorrow looks better, I wouldn't be too optimistic for the early part of the day but the later part of the day looks better and as the week goes on, it should improve," IAA chief executive Eamon Brennan told national broadcaster RTE.
North Atlantic overflights through Irish-controlled airspace remain unaffected despite the cloud drifting over the country. Cork and Kerry, as well as Shannon - an important stopover for flights to the United States - are open until further notice.
Western airports Sligo and Ireland West (Knock), shut on Sunday, would re-open at 0800 GMT while Donegal would remain closed until at least 1100 GMT. Other airports, Galway and Waterford, would reopen at 0500 GMT, the IAA said.
"As a result of the disruption to UK airports we are running four additional services on Monday," Eurostar said, adding that an extra 3500 seats would be available on routes linking London and Paris.
British rail operator Virgin Trains said it would provide an extra 7000 seats through Monday, mainly on the Birmingham to Glasgow and Edinburgh, and London to Glasgow routes.
The British government had warned that parts of British airspace might have to close until Tuesday with different areas including the south-east, where Heathrow is located, likely to be closed at different times.
Teeside, Leeds-Bradford, Blackpool, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Doncaster, Carlisle, Humberside and East Midlands airports fall within the no-fly zone, NATS said. Airports in the Isle of Man will also be affected.
TEST FLIGHTS
The volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland is continuing to erupt with no signs of the explosive activity about to end and an ash plume reaching heights of 7600 metres, Britain's Met Office said.
"The ash cloud is expected to clear the UK during Tuesday as south-westerly winds become established during Monday," it said.
The Met said that two aircraft, one from Britain and one from Germany, had flown to investigate the ash plume.
"In many areas the cloud was clearly visible to the naked eye and was described as "a grey-black layer", it said. "The pilots ... reported that ‘one should not fly into this layer’."
Elsewhere in Europe, German airlines' association said no restriction of German air traffic was expected due to the ash, and German airlines were operating flights as normal.
AIR NZ's ADVICE:
"If passengers decide not to travel, they will be entitled to re-book on another Air New Zealand flight when airspace reopens (conditions apply) or, if they have not yet commenced their travel and are ticketed on an Air New Zealand ticket, will be entitled to claim a refund."
NZ1 from London scheduled to depart at 4.15pm on Monday 17 May (UK time) will be delayed a similar period of time, with a new departure time to be advised.
Other Air New Zealand flights continue to operate.
"Passengers with onward flights to UK/Europe on another carrier need to be aware that these services could be affected also and should check with that carrier," the airline says.www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/3703872/Volcanic-ash-cloud-Londons-Heathrow-reopens SIMMERING DOWN: The sun rises behind an erupting volcano near Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland. — REUTERS.ERUPTIONS CONTINUE: Lava spews from a volcano as it erupts near Eyjafjallajokull. — REUTERS.ERUPTIONS CONTINUE: A volcano erupts near Eyjafjallajokull. — REUTERS.LIGHTS OVER VOLCANO: The Northern Lights can be seen above the still erupting Icelandic volcano. — REUTERS.ICELANDIC VOLCANO: An ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption sweeps across the countryside in southern Iceland near the village of Asolfsskali. — REUTERS.TRAVEL WRECKER: A fresh cloud of ash rises from the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. — REUTERS.VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS: A fresh cloud of ash and lava eruptions are seen in the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. — REUTERS.ASH SETTLES: A vehicle travels past vegetation along a road covered with volcanic ash in Eyjafjoll. The volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland is continuing to erupt with no signs of the explosive activity about to end. — REUTERS.ASH PROBLEMS: Stray horses cross a road in Eyjafjoll as the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier continues to erupt with no signs of the explosive activity about to end. — REUTERS. Ash crisis prompts new flying zoneAssociated Press | 10:33AM - Tuesday, 18 May 2010Britain's air traffic control body has agreed the creation of a new flying zone with Irish officials and aircraft manufacturers, to limit the disruption caused by ash emitted by an Icelandic volcano.
The new "Time Limited Zone" will be put in place over UK and Irish airspace from midday on Tuesday (local time), allowing airlines to fly through areas of medium ash density that were previously off limits, it said in a statement.
The decision followed the grounding of 1000 flights in parts of northern Europe on Monday because prevailing winds pushed a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland across parts of the region.
Several of Europe's busiest airports, including London's Heathrow and Schiphol in Amsterdam, were closed for several hours due to fears the ash could damage jet engines and bring down aircraft.
Eurocontrol, the European air traffic agency, said about 1000 flights out of a total of 28,000 in Europe had been cancelled on Monday, but said the situation was improving.
Dutch airspace reopened at 2300 NZT on Monday and London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports reopened after overnight closures.
The Met Office, Britain's weather forecasting body, said southwesterly winds should push the cloud away from British and northern European airspace on Monday night and Tuesday.
The volcano, under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland, has been erupting for weeks and shows no sign of weakening.
Last month the volcano's ash prompted a number of European countries to close their airspace for nearly a week and travel chaos ensued in Europe and beyond.
British Airways Chief Executive Willie Walsh said the closure was a "gross over-reaction to a very minor risk."
"It can be managed and we don't need these blanket closures," he told reporters in London.
Dr David Rothery, of the Earth & Environmental Sciences Department at Britain's Open University, said he feared similar disruption could occur for a few days every month for the foreseeable future.
"The rate of ash eruption and the height that it reaches have both decreased over time, though now and then they temporarily re-intensify," he said in a statement.
"This is a pattern that we can expect to continue. Major disruption to air traffic is likely only when the ash column is high and the wind carries it southeastwards, so from now on I think we're looking at a few days every month."
Iceland's meteorological service said in a statement that the plume of ash was reaching an altitude of seven to nine km and geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson of the University of Iceland said the volcano was producing ash unabated.
"Our calculations indicate that when the plume rises up to 6-7 km, the volcano is producing 150-200 tonnes (of ash) per second. When it reaches 8-9 km the production is likelier to be around 400 tonnes per second," he said on state radio.
"There are no signs of the eruption slowing down yet," he added.
Irish aviation officials said Dublin airport had reopened and the conditions looked likely to improve.
"The prospects for the next number of days are very good, we don't anticipate any problems with volcanic ash over the next two to three days," Irish Aviation Authority Chief Executive Eamonn Brennan told national broadcaster RTE's radio news.
More than 100,000 flights were cancelled across Europe last month because the volcanic ash formed a cloud over the continent.
Millions of people were stranded and airlines, already battered by the global economic downturn, lost $US1.7 billion, the International Air Transport Association has said.www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/3708772/Ash-crisis-prompts-new-flying-zone
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