Local flights cancellations due to Icelandic volcano

Mods, please put where more useful/right place.

[quote]CAL canceled the Bangkok-Amsterdam leg of its CI165 and CI166 flights between Taipei and Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, EVA dropped its Taipei-Paris round-trip flights and was scheduled to announce later in the day whether it would also cancel its Taipei-Vienna flights[/quote]
From CNA

Keep an eye on this one, folks…

EDIT:
Eva flights cancelled: BR 87, 88 and 61

More:
tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/ … 2406l.html

tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/ … 23zp4.html

Local flights, hell, most of Europe has been shut down for 3 days and there’s no end in sight. :astonished:

[quote]As an increasingly large part of European airspace was shut down for the third day on Saturday and the towering fountain of ash from an Icelandic volcano showed no signs of letting up, questions about the long-term impact of the eruption were being raised in a continent trying to recover from recession.

Officials expressed hope that some air travel could resume on Sunday, or possibly Monday, but the workings of Iceland’s volcano were too mysterious to make rational predictions. . . .

About 17,000 flights were canceled on Saturday, and travelers scrambled to find accommodation or land routes home during what is already the worst disruption in international air travel since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when all air travel in and out of the United States then was halted for three days.

While the closing of the airways has already laid waste to the immediate plans and business of industry, the arts and world leaders, the possibility that it could drag on for days, if not weeks, is raising concerns about the longer term consequences for public health, military operations and the world economy.

The disaster is estimated to be costing airlines $200 million a day, but the economic damage will roll through to farms, retail establishments and nearly any other business that depends on air-cargo shipments. Fresh produce will spoil, and supermarkets in Europe, used to year-round supplies, will begin to run out. . . .

Europe’s three largest airports — London Heathrow, Frankfurt and Paris-Charles de Gaulle — were all shut on Saturday, with officials hoping that flights could resume sometime Sunday or, more likely, Monday. Britain, France, Germany and Ireland banned most commercial air traffic for another day. Airports in northern Italy were closed on Saturday.

European airlines said that up to 70 percent of flights scheduled for Saturday were canceled as backlogs increased. Eurocontrol, which coordinates air traffic in more than 35 countries, said that some 17,000 flights were canceled Saturday out of a normal load of 22,000. . . [/quote]
nytimes.com/2010/04/18/world … sh.html?hp

And here’s the culprit. . .

Yep, big mess. Now a seconday vent opened, and more ash is being thrown out. This may last a while.

Can we go back to zeppellins?

Tomorrow’s EVA flight from Paris has been cancelled.

tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/ … 242qe.html

Trains and buses are full, rentals are out, people paying thousands for private cars/taxis.

May have to draft cruise ships into euro traffic

Wonder how long this is going to last.

From the BBC:

“They are sending planes to test if flying into ashes is unsafe”.

:astonished:

Yep, they want to get people moving ASAP. :ohreally:

No comments.

[quote=“Icon”]From the BBC:

“They are sending planes to test if flying into ashes is unsafe”.

:astonished:

Yep, they want to get people moving ASAP. :ohreally:

No comments.[/quote]KLM (the with CEO on board) and Lufthansa have both already had test flights with no reported problems. Ukraine Airlines is resuming flights anyway.

It’s not exactly “sending planes into ashes”, you can’t even see the cloud.

As for this thread. All flights to Europe except Portugal, Greece and Turkey are cancelled. It would be better to list the ones that are flying.

[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”][quote=“Icon”]From the BBC:

“They are sending planes to test if flying into ashes is unsafe”.

:astonished:

Yep, they want to get people moving ASAP. :ohreally:

No comments.[/quote]KLM (the with CEO on board) and Lufthansa have both already had test flights with no reported problems. Ukraine Airlines is resuming flights anyway.

It’s not exactly “sending planes into ashes”, you can’t even see the cloud.

As for this thread. All flights to Europe except Portugal, Greece and Turkey are cancelled. It would be better to list the ones that are flying.[/quote]

That was the comment on BBC radio. I was carrying a bunch of laundry back to the room and when I heard that I had to do a double take and almost fell, load and all. :laughing:

Seems to me the ever mounting pressure of costs will break the camel’s back. They are moving the equipment already. Plus, they are using words like “do you think the authorities overreacted?” in the news to court public opinion. Problem is, just because you don’t see it it doesn’t mean the danger is not out there.

I wish tehre were better alternatives. With global climate change, incidents like these will be ever more common. This will not be the last time we see this mess.

As to the flights, I can bet China Airlines will be at the forefront of the daring ones. There are 1500 Taiwanese stranded,. not that bad actually. Couple of 747 will do.

[quote=“tommy525”]May have to draft cruise ships into euro traffic[/quote]They did draft the Canberra for the Falklands war. But then again, if someone set up more transport capacity they’ll make a lot of money. They are considering diverting flights to Spain and getting the Navy to take people back to the UK. news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8628878.stm

[quote=“icon”]Problem is, just because you don’t see it it doesn’t mean the danger is not out there[/quote]Of course, I was just making a comment on how dense this cloud is. Maybe it’s not as dangerous as first thought. After all, no airline wants to risk a crash. I guess that’s what they’re thinking.

quote from icon:

As to the flights, I can bet China Airlines will be at the forefront of the daring ones. There are 1500 Taiwanese stranded,. not that bad actually. Couple of 747 will do.

unquote

Are you saying that China Airlines will do what EVA will not dare? Why? Their reputation is already in tatters, any more problems brings them closer to extinction.

double post

Speaking of China Airlines, looks like they are at least thinking of solutions:

online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-201 … inesEurope

TAIPEI (Dow Jones)–China Airlines Ltd. (2610.TW), Taiwan’s largest airline by revenue, spent at least NT$5 million on chartering buses and a ferry to move passengers in Europe because of ash from the volcanic eruption in Iceland, a public relations official said Sunday.

China Airlines, which operates passenger flights to five destinations in Europe, diverted one London-bound flight Thursday to Frankfurt, and chartered buses to transport the nearly 300 passengers to Paris from Frankfurt, and from Paris to London by ferry, the official said. She declined to be named.

The comments came after China Airlines and smaller rival EVA Airways Corp. (2618.TW) said on their Web sites they have canceled another 19 flights Sunday and Monday to and from Europe, including connecting flights, because of the volcanic ash problem.

“This indeed created some difficulties for us,” EVA Executive Vice President K.W. Nieh said Sunday by phone.

China Airlines and EVA are also major air cargo operators and so had to cancel cargo flights as well, but officials said cargo flights are easier to reschedule.

Nieh said EVA operates about 10 weekly cargo flights to Europe but over 30 weekly flights to the U.S.

“The cargo is waiting there (in Europe),” he said.

Both officials said they couldn’t immediately estimate the impact on revenue from the flight cancellations.

Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau said currently there are 1,455 Taiwanese passengers in Europe awaiting return flights, but all tour groups leaving after Friday have already canceled their flights. Mid-April is the beginning of the peak travel season to Europe, according to the bureau.

-By Alex Pevzner, Dow Jones Newswires; 8862-2502-2557; alex.pevzner@dowjones.com

[quote=“tommy525”]Speaking of China Airlines, looks like they are at least thinking of solutions:

online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-201 … inesEurope[/quote]Good for them :bravo: Not sure how you can charter a ferry though. If someone had a spare ferry, they’ll be mad to be to not using it already.

[quote=“tommy525”]quote from icon:

As to the flights, I can bet China Airlines will be at the forefront of the daring ones. There are 1500 Taiwanese stranded,. not that bad actually. Couple of 747 will do.

unquote

Are you saying that China Airlines will do what EVA will not dare? Why? Their reputation is already in tatters, any more problems brings them closer to extinction.[/quote]

Just being kinda funny. All you need is a couple of daredevil ex-Air Force pilots to dare… (just kidding!)

Seriously, CI’s volume is staggering, especially in cargo -electronics- definetively that would be one factor in having them push for earlier opening. It’s good to see them helping to move people, last Taiwanese on the news were sleeping in a cot in the Amsterdam airport. Live report from cellphone cam. :smiley:

Also, it’s got newer 747s. EVA’s got more 777, I think. Technical problem would be if the equipment is/gets stranded in Europe.

Moreover, the loads will have to be considered carefully, as the planes will be eitehr flying way low or way high -13000, I’ve read- and that means it cannot carry that many passengers/cargo. It will be a funny ride with pretty funny calculations. Poor operations staff.

ps.
Tommy, CI cannot die. It’s Gov’t funded, and no one else will buy it.

icon quote:

ps.
Tommy, CI cannot die. It’s Gov’t funded, and no one else will buy it.

unquote.

Yeah but it costs money to repaint all the planes into another name for the carrier.

Actually there are pilots with Ci that would dare to take some older (to be refurbished or junked for insurance) 747s . And maybe if there were no other crew members and all the passengers signed their life away. Yeah it could happen then.

Meantime I wonder how many EVA and Ci jets are stranded in Europe? THe european carriers have jets stranded all over the world. They must be suffering horribly.

Heres some general news from Daily Mail

dailymail.co.uk/news/article … ssion.html

Wow! This is really good service:

Overall translation:
The staff of the Frankfurt representative office went to the airport and assited teh people, making sure they had their visas OKd, were in good health, had medicine, helped them sent packages and mail home, and can lend the stranded passengers up to 500 USD.
tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/ … 2457b.html

If any one wanna see live airtraffic over europe, seems rather busy in the south now while the rest ist still rather wiped off…

http://www.flightradar24.com/

Told you China Airlines would be the first out:

[quote]Meanwhile, China Airlines (CAL) said yesterday that it is scheduled to resume flights between Taipei and Rome today.

A Taipei-Rome flight will also be offered on Thursday and Sunday. CAL’s flights from Taipei to and from London and Amsterdam, however, have all been canceled.

Flights between Taipei and Bangkok will continue, CAL added.

Today’s EVA Airways’ flights between Taipei and London, and Taipei and Amsterdam have been canceled.

CAL said it has two aircraft stranded at Frankfurt Airport and about nine flight crews trapped at five airports in Europe that it services.

EVA Airways has about six flight crews stranded in Europe.

Passengers are advised to contact the airlines for updated information.
[/quote]
taipeitimes.com/News/front/a … 2003471026

Plus:

[quote]CAL reported later Monday that it would mobilize three passenger aircraft, including one from Taipei to Rome via Delhi, Tuesday, to take more than 850 passengers stranded in Europe home.

EVA will also apply to fly a Taipei-Bangkok-Vienna flight to help bring home its stranded passengers.

[/quote]
From CNA

Confirmed, both flights are out. Hopefully they will make it back: :pray:

[quote]華航台北經印度德里到羅馬的班機,今天上午8時40分起飛,預定明天晚上8時30分回到台灣。

長榮台北經泰國曼谷到維也納的班機將在今晚10時45分起飛,預定22日上午10時35分回到台灣。

[/quote]

China Airlines departed for Rome -stop in Delhi- at 8:40am, expected to return on the 21st at 8:30 pm.

Eva is scheduled for 10:45pm departure for Vienna, should come back at 10:35 am on the 22nd.

tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/ … 2477j.html