Travel Package Advice

LONDON – Ash clouds caused by a surge in activity from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano brought fresh travel chaos to thousands of passengers yesterday, as airports shut in London, Ireland and the Netherlands.

London Heathrow – Europe’s busiest air hub, and London Gatwick – reopened after a six-hour shutdown yesterday due to a no-fly zone that was imposed.

Amsterdam – one of Europe’s key air hubs – and Rotterdam airports in the Netherlands were both closed until 2pm local time (8pm, Singapore time) as the ash cloud moved east.

Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic control agency, said 28,000 flights were expected yesterday in Europe, about 1,000 less than normal, mainly due to disruptions in the airspace over Britain and the Netherlands.

Yet in a hopeful note, charts published by Eurocontrol said the ash cloud should be gradually breaking up and retreating during the day.

Airports in Northern Ireland, much of Scotland – including Edinburgh and Aberdeen – and parts of Wales were still under a no-fly order as winds pushed the ash plume into Europe’s busy airspace.

In England, Bristol in the south-west was also shut. London’s other main airports City, Luton and Stansted were open but advising passengers to check with their airlines for updates.

The National Air Traffic Services, which manages British airspace, said: “The volcanic ash cloud continues to change shape and two key areas affect operations stretching from the south of England to Northern Ireland, and over much of mainland Scotland to the Shetland Isles.”

Airports across Britain and Ireland were closed for much of Sunday, which resulted in the cancellation of about 400 flights. Britain’s weather service says the north-west winds should shift midweek, moving the ash away from Britain.

Europe’s skies were partially closed for up to a week in April following the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, in the biggest shutdown of the continent’s airspace for more than 50 years. AGENCIES

More air travel chaos in Europe

By Scott McCartney

The airline industry was left fuming last year when some $8 billion on federal stimulus money was appropriated for high-speed rail while air-traffic control modernization got no new funds.

Airlines see high-speed trains as competition that could further erode their customer bases, and they were left befuddled how rail projects decades away could be “shovel ready” when the next-generation air-traffic control system that airlines say will reduce delays and boost air-travel capacity didn’t get any action from the Obama Administration.

And so when Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood addressed the Federal Aviation Administration’s annual forecasting conference in Washington, D.C., the first question from the airline industry audience was about trains. Why so much for trains and not for planes?

Mr. LaHood gave a politician’s answer about how important the NextGen air-traffic control modernization effort is to the Administration. then he paused and went off-script.

“Let me give you a little bit of political advice: Don’t be against high-speed rail,” Sec. LaHood said. “It’s coming to America. This is the president’s vision, this is the vice president’s vision, this is America’s vision…. We’re going to get into the high-speed rail business.”

In two or three decades, mr. LaHood said, U.S. cities will be connected by high-speed rail – whether airlines like it or not.

“People want alternatives,” he said pointedly. “People are still going to fly, but we need alternatives. So get with the program.”

LaHood to Airlines: get Onboard the High-Speed Train – The Middle …