New wave of flight cancellations due to volcanic ash by Zuzana Zelenakova

Northern Ireland airspace has been shut down due to new surge of volcanic ash from Iceland volcanoes. The cloud that disrupted travel plans of many people once again is headed north-west. "Unfortunately, yet again, a mixture of volcanic activity and weather systems have conspired to bring a cloud of ash down towards the UK,“ said Jonathan Astill the air traffic authority, the National Air Traffic Service. "As a result we've now got a cloud of high density volcanic ash rapidly encroaching on Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man." The plans of travelers are now threatened not only by the upcoming British Airways strike, but also the volcanic ash cloud. Many airlines w! ere angered by the move and called it an exaggeration. Sir Richard Branson from Virgin Atlantic, for example, called the closure of Manchester airport “beyond a joke” and appealed to the government to “avoid further unnecessary damage to the UK economy and lives of travelers.” He argued that in France they experienced similar conditions last week and still about 1,000 flights took off from the country´s airports. According to the forecasts and Nats experts, the wind should change its direction and take the ash cloud away from Britain by the end of the week. Ash from Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull has been troubling travelers and airlines since April. Seismic activity of the volcano began at the end of 2009 and was gradually rising until the first eruption on 20 March 2010. The second eruption occurred on 14 April 2010 and created an ash cloud. The ash cloud is currently in a height of about 6-7 kilometers. In the period since April, the Iris! h airline Ryanair has been fined 3 million euros by Italy for ! not offe ring sufficient help to passengers whose flights were cancelled during the time of closures.

related story (sgx17317): http://www.france24.com/en/20100516-iceland-volcanic-ash-clo...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

Cantell TV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with telecommunications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface coupled with free phone calls. Cantell TV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.