Iceland volcano and aviation

[Anonymous]

How worried should any of us traveling to Europe be about this Icelandic volcano shutting down airspace This week?

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/International/wireStory/iceland-evacuates-town-raises-aviation-alert-concerns-rise-104818504

[Anonymous]

I don't really.care about people traveling to Europe for leisure. They can deal with the fall out.

[Anonymous]

i think it's a possibility, so I added trip insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't really.care about people traveling to Europe for leisure. They can deal with the fall out.

This is a travel group so it is a reasonable question in this space....Tourism is also a huge part of the economy in Iceland so if airspace shuts down for a long period, that could add to the risk of harm for those in Iceland.

Human life is of course of the utmost importance and the good news is that all the people that are within the area where the volcano could erupt have been safely evacuated. Apparently, Icelandic people are showing wonderful support to one another.

I am hoping for the best.

[Anonymous]

Just saw on the French news that they evacuated 4000 people and are considering taking measures for the capital city as well. The specialist they interviewed said there would be an eruption in the next couple of days.

So this is serious. If you're transiting through Iceland, and they can't accommodate the plane, you'll probably have to wait until they cancel to get reimbursed. If you're taking a direct flight to Europe, the planes will just avoid the smoke, and maybe take a little longer. I wouldn't be too worried. There might be domino repercussions on travel, of course, but that's harder to predict today.

[Anonymous]

There were major travel disruptions in 2010 so it's definitely a possibility.

"About 20 countries closed their airspace to commercial jet traffic and it affected approximately 10 million travellers."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull

[Anonymous]

I was in Iceland in 2010 and the disruption was huge. Flights were cancelled out of most European countries. My parents were also trapped in SA for a week. I would still travel on a direct flight but wouldn't risk travelling through Iceland right now.

[Anonymous]

This will be a very different type of eruption than the 2010 one, where there was all that ash which affected air travel to Europe. Listen to the scientists, not Fox News.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:i think it's a possibility, so I added trip insurance.

+1 this is what I would do. But, make sure the insurance covers natural disasters, or "acts of God" as sometimes it's termed.

Crazy.. we were in Iceland, including Grindavik just a couple of weeks ago.

[Anonymous]

Ugg. Scheduled to go to Europe next week with a multi day stop in Iceland. Don’t think there’s much I can do at this point other than keep my fingers crossed. This should be interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't really.care about people traveling to Europe for leisure. They can deal with the fall out.

Signed - jealous I don’t get to travel to europe.

[Anonymous]

It’s going to be disruptive.
Iceland Air is a major carrier going to Europe, so those flights won’t happen at all, and other flights will probably be grounded for days due to visibility issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't really.care about people traveling to Europe for leisure. They can deal with the fall out.

Signed - jealous I don’t get to travel to europe.

DP. I have elderly family members there and at this point all trips are for medical emergencies. Not all Europe travel is fun.

[Anonymous]

Now Mt Etna is erupting.

[Anonymous]

Oh dear. Am scheduled to fly Icelandic next Tuesday. WTF. Hadn't really realized it because I have never flown Icelandic before so till I saw this thread it hit me like a ton of bricks.