The ash cloud released by the Icelandic volcano Grimsvotn has reached Germany. Northern airports, including the international airports of Hamburg and Bremen, were forced to suspend flights this morning. "There are currently no forecasts for the lifting of the restrictions," reads the Hamburg airport website.
The German airline Lufthansa allows passengers of canceled flights to convert their tickets into rail vouchers. According to the German authorities, there is a risk that from 12 today the airports of Berlin and Hannover will have to close their doors. Concerns also for Scandinavian air traffic. Eurocontrol, the European flight control agency, said the ash could reach Denmark, southern Norway and southwestern Sweden today.
Meanwhile in Iceland the fury of Grimsvotn begins to fade. “It seems that the volcano is calming down – Icelandic president Olafur Grimsson told the BBC -. The eruption is gradually diminishing and the ash cloud is much smaller than before." The height of the column of smoke does not even reach two thousand meters and the emission could end as early as next weekend.
Last year, ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused the cancellation of 100 flights, grounding 10 million passengers and costing industry €1,7 billion in losses. Eurocontrol said that the impact on flights this time will be clearly lower, also thanks to the new flight procedures adopted.
However, Europeans must prepare for a "very difficult week", said the European Commissioner for Transport, Siim Kallas. Yesterday alone, the eruption of Iceland's largest active volcano caused a total of 500 flight cancellations. Air traffic was paralyzed especially in Scotland.
