Iceland Eruption Strikes NI Travel Again

For the second time in a year, volcanic ash from a far-away Iceland has halted flights between Northern Ireland airports and other destinations in the British Isles.

Even US President Barack Obama was taking no chances and has cut short his visit to the Irish Republic over fears the ash plume could prevent his state visit to the UK that started today.

Mr Obama travelled to London 12 hours ahead of schedule and stayed overnight in the capital instead of in Dublin.

The disruption is due to the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland, which erupted at the weekend.

At Belfast International Airport, Easyjet have cancelled all flights to both Glasgow and Edinburgh. Jet2 flights to Leeds-Bradford have also been affected.

The Met Office is forecasting that the ash cloud will continue to affect parts of the UK between 7pm on Tuesday and 1am on Wednesday morning.

According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, new arrangements put in place since last year's volcanic ash cloud will ensure high levels of public safety while helping to limit any disruption.

Two Loganair flights between Belfast City Airport and Dundee have been grounded.

Meanwhile, airline Aer Arann has cancelled flights between the City of Derry Airport and Dublin.

Aer Lingus flights between Shannon, Dublin and Cork and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen have also been cancelled but Ryanair has objected to an order from Irish officials to ground its morning flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen on safety grounds.

All local airports have advised commuters to contact their airline before travelling to their departure point.

The arrival of the Icelandic ash cloud comes one year after a similar eruption from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused widespread disruption across the UK and Europe.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said ash levels would be graded as low, medium or high, and airlines would be notified if levels reached medium or high.

Airlines would then consider whether to fly, according to risk assessments already carried out, the CAA added.

The European air traffic agency says up to 500 commercial flights in Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of Scandinavia may be cancelled because of the spread of volcanic ash.

There are just over 30,000 flights within Europe on average every day at this time of the year.

(BMcC/GK)