The UK is closed for business

[Con]

isn't that good?

not really? If people are stuck somewhere, they will have to pay a LOT of money for hotel rooms, food etc. that they weren't prepared to pay for in the first place, and some people have work/school/etc. on moday again, so yeah...not really a good thing

[Stefy09]

Yo if my sister got stuck in another country then I'd be laughing

[Inseriousity.]

^^ hehe same. peace and quiet, woohoo.

[xxMATTGxx]

Scandinavian airline SAS warned it would temporarily lay off up to 2,500 employees in Norway starting Monday if flights halted due to a giant cloud of volcanic ash remained on the ground. Skip related content

"We have today warned 2,500 employees there could be temporary lay-offs. A final decision will be made on Monday," SAS spokeswoman Elisabeth Manzy told AFP late Friday.

Only employees in Norway had received the warning because Norwegian law requires two days of advanced notice in these cases, she said, adding that workers in Sweden and Denmark would be notified later since laws there were different.

"We can't fly. Our entire fleet is on the ground ... There is nothing for them to do," Manzy explained.

All SAS flights in the company's hub cities Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm have been cancelled until Saturday at 1500 GMT at the earliest, "but everything could still be closed on Monday," she said.

All employees hit by the temporary lay-off would get their job back once flights were back in the air, Manzy said.

The lay-offs "will last only as long as this extraordinary situation is happening," she said.

SAS cancelled 742 flights on Friday, grounding all but a few flights in the north of Norway, where services restarted at a very slow pace.

The company has refused to say how much the volcano blast had cost it but according to Danish Boarding.dk, a specialised air travel news site, SAS was losing around 120 million Danish kroner (16 million euros, 22 million dollars) per day.

Millions of passengers remained stranded across Europe after a huge cloud of ash from a volcano eruption that began in Iceland on Wednesday swept across Europe, grounding thousands of flights in the biggest air travel shutdown since World War II.

Not good news at all!

[xxMATTGxx]

Saturday April 17: Latest update at 0415 (UK Time)

Following the latest information from the MET Office, NATS advises that restrictions across UK controlled airspace have been extended until at least 1900 (UK Time) today Saturday 17 April and that restrictions to Scottish and Manchester airspace have been re-applied until the same time.

Current forecasts show that the situation is worsening throughout Saturday. We are continuing to look for windows of opportunity to handle individual flights in UK controlled airspace.

The next update will be at approximately 0900 (UK time) as planned.

[Titch]

i can see this going on for a few weeks tbh

[xxMATTGxx]

i can see this going on for a few weeks tbh

Yeah and if it carries on Airlines are going to struggle big time.

------------------

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Saturday April 17, 0830

The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland is moving around and changing shape. Based on the latest information from the Met Office, NATS advises that the restrictions currently in place across UK controlled airspace will remain in place until at least 0100 (UK time) tomorrow, Sunday 18 April.

We are looking for opportunities when the ash cloud moves sufficiently for us to make some airspace available within Scotland and Northern Ireland, which may enable some domestic flights to operate under individual coordination with ATC; we will be coordinating this closely with airlines and airports. It is most unlikely that many flights will operate today and anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before travelling to the airport.

We will continue to monitor Met Office information and review our arrangements in line with that. We will advise further arrangements at approximately 1500 (UK time).


-----------------------------------------------

[Hitman]

New types of engine should be made that can fly through the ash. It will be possible. Expensive and time consuming but possible. This could potentially go on for years - although the chances are very low for years, but weeks or months is not out the window.

It's not good at all. Sometimes it's exciting when there's some big thing happening, but this is quite annoying if it continues.

[xxMATTGxx]

New types of engine should be made that can fly through the ash. It will be possible. Expensive and time consuming but possible. This could potentially go on for years - although the chances are very low for years, but weeks or months is not out the window.

It's not good at all. Sometimes it's exciting when there's some big thing happening, but this is quite annoying if it continues.

Hmm but not only the engines. The whole airframe, cockpit windows and so on.

[Inseriousity.]

Hmm but not only the engines. The whole airframe, cockpit windows and so on.

If that's the case then surely even 'emergency' flights are in danger too!! What's an example of an emergency flight cos it'd have to be huge to risk that?!!