Volcanic Ash Snarls Scottish, Irish Airspace for a Second Day

(May 5) -- A new wave of volcanic ash from last month's Iceland eruption has doubled back over northern Europe, disrupting flights in Scotland and Ireland for a second straight day and threatening airspace over England.

Britain's Civil Aviation Authority has grounded flights at most airports in Scotland and Northern Ireland today, and it says the ash cloud could reach southward into northern England -- affecting flights to and from major hubs like Manchester and Liverpool. It's not expected to reach as far as London, however.

PA / AP

A passenger sleeps at the Belfast City airport in Northern Ireland. Hundreds of flights were canceled Tuesday as the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud crept back into the airspace over parts of Ireland and Scotland.

Airports in Glasgow and Belfast are closed today, and Edinburgh may be slated to close depending on wind directions, according to a statement on the agency's website. A 60-nautical-mile buffer zone has been imposed around high concentrations of ash, it said.

"Ash over UK airspace has increased in density as ash emissions from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull have become stronger," a civil aviation spokesman told the BBC. "This means the Met Office forecasts of 'No Fly Zone' locations have been extended further south."

Today's disruptions are due to ash from the same volcano that caused mayhem for 10 million travelers last month, and could be an indicator of more disruptions to come, depending on weather patterns this summer.

Airlines lost some $1.7 billion in revenue during the six days when flights were grounded across Europe last month, according to the International Air Transport Association. Airports and tour operators lost hundreds of millions more, exceeding the severity of disruptions after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Renewed disruptions began again on Tuesday, just as European transport ministers were meeting in Brussels to discuss how to improve cooperation among countries in the event of another volcanic ash crisis.

Ministers issued a statement saying they're developing a "single European regulator for a single European sky," and working to establish strict guidelines for when levels of contaminants such as volcanic ash in the atmosphere make it unsafe to fly.

"Let's be clear about one thing. This is going to continue to happen. It might be next week. It might be in 20 years," EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said. "But it will happen again, and volcanoes do not obey rules. So we need to be faster and more flexible in our response."