Icalandair cancels flights due to volcanic eruption

An eruption started in Grímsvötn lakes in Vatnajokull glacier yesterday evening. The eruption is on a 500-800 meter long fissure, or cauldron, according to geophysicist Magnus Tumi at the University of Iceland.

Sources quoted in the local media say this eruption is much more powerful than the infamous eruption in Eyjafjallajokull which took place from March through May last year. This said, it is likely not to cause as much trouble to aviation as the eruption in Eyjafjallajokull.

The asp plume has already risen to 20 km above sea level, 4 km higher than in the Eyjafjalljokull eruption last year. However, the ash is grainier which probably means that it won’t travel as far as the ash from Eyjafjallajokull. Latest reports say the eruption is waning.

Iceland’s international airport in Keflavik, 35 miles from Reykjavik and 200 miles away from the eruption, is closed – some say unnecessarily because there is no ash in the area yet.

The airport’s closure caused Icelandair to cancelled flights to Iceland this afternoon from Amsterdam, Paris, London, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Bergen/Stavanger. As a result flights from Iceland to Copenhagen, London, Stockholm, Oslo, Washington, Toronto, New York and Boston are cancelled.

During last year’s eruption flights were redirected to Akureyri airport in the north of Iceland and Icelandair moved its hub to Glasgow in Scotland. No decision of this kind has been made for the present eruption yet.

Everyone in Iceland is safe and there is no immediate threat to human lives.

Volcanic eruption in Iceland

A volcanic eruption started in Iceland Saturday night 21 May 2011.

This time the eruption is in Eyjafjallajokull glacier - Europe's largest glacier.

The eruption is about 350 km away from Reykjavik and there is no sign of ash yet in the capital city of Iceland.

Flights are expected to be diverted, in fact Icelandair has cancelled all fligths to the country in the afternoon but all its planes managed to leave the country this morning with out problems.

Eyjafjallajokull eruption which started 20 March 2010 and lasted until May the same year caused great problems for avaiation.

This eruption is the largest of 23 eruptions that Omar Ragnarsson, the volcano newsreporter expert formerly at the State Television and Radio, has ever seen.

The ash plume rises 20 km in the air, 4 km higher than the ash plume from the Eyjafjallajokull eruption. This said, the ash is not as fine as in Eyjafjallajokull eruptions which means it will probably not travel as far.

The effects of the eruption is difficult to predict but it is certain that it will have immediate effect on air travel in Iceland this afternoon.

There is no danger to people, buildings or bridges at this stage.

Watch this blog.