Flights back to normal as volcano subsides

Aviation in the EU returned to normal yesterday after the volcanic activity in Iceland stopped in the morning.

The European Commission said it was not expecting any further airspace closures or flight cancellations.

Germany was the last EU member state to be hit by the ash cloud from Saturday’s Grimsvotn volcano eruption when yesterday morning it was forced to close three main airports in the north, grounding some 700 flights.

However, German aviation authorities later gave the go-ahead for flights from Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin airports to resume.

Air Malta had to cancel flights to and from Hamburg but no other flights leaving Malta were affected, a Malta International Airport spokesman told The Times.

“The volcano has stopped erupting so the situation seems to be under control,” he said.

A Commission spokesman said the EU’s response had been very well coordinated.

“The guidelines which we have put in place after last year’s volcanic eruption found the EU very well prepared for this emergency and very few disruptions have taken place,” she said.

Following the April 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the EU, along with Eurocontrol and the International Civil Aviation Organisation adopted changes to guidelines to avoid a repetition of the massive air-traffic chaos that followed.

Last year’s crisis had stalled European aviation for six days with more than 100,000 flights cancelled and 10 million passengers stranded.