AFA - Aerospace Forum Asia

Sign of the times ...recommends industry activists to review this abridged/highlighted clip from Reuters ...it outlines the impact of the volcanic ash cloud that started floating over the Atlantic Ocean from Iceland on 15 April ,on airlines in Northern Europe (Posted 19 Apr,2010)
 

Spare a thought for the several million air travellers in Northern Europe who have been grounded due to the volcanic ash cloud that started floating over the Atlantic from Iceland on 15th April...and raise a hand to applaud the crew of  Cathay Pacific Airways Flight CX780 for their exceptional professionalism this week in handling the situation en route back to HK from Indonesia.

Aviation appreciated, only in adversity ?

Are their a lessons to learn from these random incidents and how to challenge the reactions to them ? My dot joining thoughts have tied together several stories from the week.

The world's airlines have  yet again face another external on going challenge. ( The last time there was volcanic activity of this type in Iceland,circa 1830 it lasted 18 months !) Airlines must  brace themselves for more ill thought out legislation from the EU and much more severe taxation plans from the likely hung Parliament "winners" of the UK General Election.

My point again, the aviation industry has never been under so much external pressure with so little practical appreciation.

Politicians can see the severe economic effect of air services being grounded in Europe, but are at odds  to significantly increase taxation and regulation....bearing  in mind Nick Clegg Liberal Democrat leader. The undisputed winner of  yesterday's historic leaders debate, has declared in his party's manifesto this week, to significantly increase tax on aviation. Gordon Brown's green painted fingers lifted 2 billion pounds in Airport Departure Tax last year. Brace yourself for a doubling of that, if LABOUR or CONSERVATIVES need Lib Dem votes to make up a working majority. My concern is that the global copycat effect, the "Mother of all Parliaments", has been known to affect.

A few billion more taxes of any currency is not what a fragile, straining to recover airline industry needs,especially when its best efforts to rationalise are also constrained by most governments. The irony is that when airlines are grounded , governments are quick to appreciate their essential "real world wide web" role.

This week's news is another salutary reminder of the power of mother nature, which continues to bubble up and cut through mankind's most sophisticated transport offerings.

15/4 may be remembered as the day most of Europe was grounded, others may recall it as the date the TITANIC sank!.

I attach highlighted media reports that relate to these issues and my opinion best summarise the facts in a balanced and insightful way,
which reminds me to question the amateur blogger sphere type coverage of the CX780 incident, passed on as mainstream newspaper coverage.

ANY IDEAS HOW TO SHAME GOVERNMENTS AND MEDIA MOGULS INTO MORE INTELLIGENT REACTIONS TO AVIATION RELATED EVENTS ? ...NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION is a starting point slogan kindly provided as rallying cry by C S Chew of SIA last November.


Glad I got all that off my chest ..............

 

Volcanic ash turns northern Europe into no-fly zone-Reuters 15 Apr,2010
by Kylie MacLellan

A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano turned northern Europe into a no-fly zone on Thursday, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded.

The European air safety organisation said the disruption, the biggest seen in the region, could last another two days and a leading volcano expert said the ash could present intermittent problems to air traffic for 6 months if the eruption continued.

Even if the disruption, which has also affected trans-atlantic flights, is short lived, the financial impact on airlines could be significant, a consultant said.

The International Air Transport Association had said only days ago airlines were slowly coming out of recession.

The volcano began erupting on Wednesday for the second time in a month from below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier. It hurled a plume of ash six to 11 kilometres (3.8 to 7 miles) into the atmosphere, and this spread south east overnight.

Volcanic ash contains tiny particles of glass and pulverised rock that can damage engines and airframes and an Icelandic volcanologist said on Thursday the eruption was intensifying..

John Strickland, director of air transport consultancy JLS Consulting, saw possible broader hazards.

"Iceland sits right on one of the key routes between Europe and the USA and... depending on meteorological conditions it could also affect flights from Europe to Asia so there are two big international flows which could be affected by this."

GROUNDED

A spokesman at Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, said 840 out of 1,250 flights on Thursday were affected, disrupting about 180,000 passengers. More than 120,000 other passengers were affected at Gatwick, Stansted and Glasgow airports.

It was the first time within living memory that a natural disaster had caused such a halt, a spokeswoman for Britain's National Air Traffic Service (NATS) said. Even after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Britain did not close its air space.

Brian Flynn, deputy head of operations at Eurocontrol, an intergovernmental air safety organisation, said the disruption was already unprecedented:.

Brussels, Amsterdam and Geneva airports said they had cancelled a large number of flights and Eurocontrol spokesman Brian Flynn said the problem could persist for a further 48 hours.

How soon they reopened would depend on the volume of ash.

Finland was closing all airports from midnight on Thursday.

"UNPREDICTABLE"

The Association of British Insurers said volcanic eruptions were not always covered by travel insurance for cancellation and delay. But some airlines issued statements confirming they would refund fares or change flights.

"There is a big financial impact on the airlines," said Strickland of JLS consulting. "We are now looking at least a day's business wiped out for the airline business ... even if things were meteorologically fine to fly tomorrow by that time the airlines will have all their aircraft and crew out of position so they have no choice but to cancel further flights."

In 1982 a British Airways jumbo jet lost power in all its engines when it flew into an ash cloud over Indonesia, gliding towards the ground before it was able to restart its engines.

The incident prompted the aviation industry to rethink the way it prepared for ash clouds, resulting in international contingency plans activated on Thursday.

Scientists said the ash did not pose any health threat because it is at such a high altitude.

Bill McGuire, professor at the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, said if the volcano continued erupting for more than 12 months, as it did the last time, periodic disruptions to air traffic could continue.

"The problem is volcanoes are very unpredictable and in this case we have only one eruption to go on," he said. "And a lot depends on the wind. I would expect this shutdown to last a couple of days. But if the eruption continues -- and continues to produce ash -- we could see repeated disruption over six months or so." "