Ash cloud causes more flight disruptions

VOLCANIC ash from Iceland has once again disrupted European flights when it settled over UK and some European airports yesterday, affecting 23 flights to and from Cyprus.
Hermes Airports PR Manager, Adamos Aspris, said: “In total 23 flights were affected. This does not necessarily mean cancelled, but also delayed or rescheduled. For example, one flight to Cyprus that was due to depart from Newcastle left from Leeds instead.”
Larnaca airport saw 19 flights affected (10 departures and nine arrivals) while two departures and two arrivals from Paphos were affected.
Asked how many passengers were affected, Aspris said that it was not possible to give a precise figure because passengers from cancelled flights might rebook on the next available flights and be affected twice.
A brief survey of the social networking website, twitter.com, shows that many tourists who were due to fly home were enjoying an extended holiday on the island.
Aspris said the situation seems to be improving and he was optimistic that flight schedules would return to normal soon. “Currently, the situation seems to be improving, and the problems will probably be resolved soon.”
In the meantime he urged all passengers to contact their airlines or travel agents to confirm flight times, before setting off for the airport.”
The UK’s Civil Aviation Authority yesterday imposed a flight ban over Northern Ireland and some North Western UK Airports, following the Icelandic volcano’s eruption last Thursday.
According to the BBC, the cloud is expected to remain over London today, but have moved out of UK airspace by Wednesday.
Prof Brian Golding, Head of Forecasting Research at the UK’s Met Office, told the BBC “The volcano has now dropped back in height. It did that yesterday, so the ash coming towards us for the future isn’t quite as deep as it was on Thursday.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.