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21-Apr-2010 9:57 AM

Ash Attack: Airport updates

Airport updates:

  • Belgium's Brussels International, Brussels Charleroi and Liege airports resumed operations on 20-Apr-2010 and were expected to reach full landing capacity by 1200 (The News, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina's Sarajevo International Airport announced (20-Apr-2010) airspace over the countries is now fully open and the airport is now resuming operations; [more]
  • Bulgarian airports, including Varna and Sofia, resumed operations on 20-Apr-2010 (FOCUS News Agency/novinite.com, 20-Apr-2010). Bulgarian Government is now providing assistance for the approximately 200 Bulgarian citizens stranded overseas;
  • Denmark's airports will open from 0000 21-Apr-2010 to at least 0600 (Reuters, 21-Apr-2010);
  • Estonia's airports to remain open until at least 0000 21-Apr-2010 (Reuters, 21-Apr-2010);
  • Finland's Finavia announced (21-Apr-2010) Helsinki-Vantaa Airport's air traffic control services are open and other airport services, like terminal services, will return to normal by 1200. The airport is to remain open until 1500. All other Finavia airports, except Mariehamn, will be opened by 1200, until further notice. The airports were then to remain closed until 0900 21-Apr-2010 (AFP, 20-Apr-2010). [more]
  • Dubai Airports stated it has activated contingency plans and deployed additional staff to support additional services to Europe (Gulf News, 21-Apr-2010);
  • French Government partially reopened Paris airports for limited flights at 0800 20-Apr-2010 (AFP, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Hungary reopened all airports on 20-Apr-2010, including Budapest Ferihegy International Airport (Reuters, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Indian airports stated there were still more than 40,000 passengers stranded in the country on 20-Apr-2010 (AFP, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Italian civil protection chief, Guido Bertolaso, stated inconveniences from the Ash Attack are likely to continue for several more days, despite airspace being completely open in the country (Xinhua, 20-Apr-2010/Reuters, 21-Apr-2010). Rome Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport cancelled more than 144 flights on 20-Apr-2010, while Bologna Airport cancelled 171;
  • Irish Aviation Authority announced (20-Apr-2010) Dublin Airport will remain closed until at least 2100 20-Apr-2010, while Shannon Airport remained open until 1900 (Dow Jones, 20-Apr-2010). Cork Airport also remained closed (Independent.ie, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Lithuanian airports to remain open until at least 1800 21-Apr-2010 (Reuters, 21-Apr-2010);
  • Luxembourg airports were reopened 0900 21-Apr-2010 (Reuters, 21-Apr-2010);
  • Macedonia's Skopje Alexander the Great Airport resumed operations on 20-Apr-2010 (MIA, 20-Apr-2010). Ohrid Apostle Paul Airport has also been reopened;
  • MAp Airports stated it is working to mitigate the Ash Attack, but it is still to early to estimate the impact the issue has had on the group (The Moodie Report, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Moldova airports resumed international flights at 0730 20-Apr-2010 (Reuters, 21-Apr-2010);
  • Netherlands' airports received approval to resume night operations on 20-Apr-2010 (DutchNews.nl, 20-Apr-2010). Each flight is to be approved on a case-by-case basis;
  • Polish airports were closed again on 20-Apr-2010, due to further volcanic ash polluting the country's airspace, after Warsaw, Krakow, Lodz and Rzeszow airports were originally reopened on 19-Apr-2010 (Reuters, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Portuguese airports cancelled at least 100 flights on 20-Apr-2010 (Xinhua, 16-Apr-2010);
  • Romanian airports reopened in the evening of 20-Apr-2010 (IsraelNN.com, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Russian airports cancelled 531 flights and delayed a further 1777 on 20-Apr-2010 (Itar-Tass, 20-Apr-2010). Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport cancelled 308 flights and delayed 127, Moscow Vnukovo Airport cancelled 36 flights and delayed three, while St Petersburg Pulkovo Airport cancelled 115 and delayed 18;
  • Saudi Arabia's Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport stated 1,700 pilgrims were stranded at the airport on 20-Apr-2010, with airlines starting to transport passengers again in the evening (Arab News, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Slovakia airports were reopened 1240 20-Apr-2010, with the situation to be reassessed at 0000 (Reuters, 21-Apr-2010);
  • Slovenia airports were reopened at 1000 20-Apr-2010 (AFP, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Sweden's Stockholm Arlanda Airport closed at 1800 20-Apr-2010 and is to remain closed until at least the morning of 21-Apr-2010 (Reuters, 20-Apr-2010). Stockholm Bromma Airport closed at 1500 (The Local, 20-Apr-2010);
  • Switzerland's airports resumed operations at 0600 20-Apr-2010 (Dow Jones, 20-Apr-2010). Zurich Airport cancelled 315 flights on 20-Apr-2010;
  • Turkish airports were reopened by 1615 on 20-Apr-2010 (Today's Zaman, 20-Apr-2010). 600 flights were cancelled from İstanbul Atatürk Airport between 15-Apr-2010 to 18-Apr-2010;
  • UAE Government plans to issue 96 hour visa for passengers stranded at their airports (Emirates Business 24/7, 20-Apr-2010);
  • UK gradually resumed operations from 2134 on 20-Apr-2010. Scottish Government also announced (20-Apr-2010) Scottish airports resumed operations on the morning of 20-Apr-2010. The government launched a Homecoming Helpline to smooth the path of returning travellers; [more]
    • BAA stated (20-Apr-2010) it is ready to open its airports. [more]
    • BAA also confirmed (20-Apr-2010) the current expected maximum daily impact on Adjusted EBITDA and cash flow of the airport closures is expected to be GBP5-6 million across all of BAA's UK airports. This may be offset by factors such as the recovery of lost revenue once the airports re-open and reductions in operating costs. BAA stated it entered this period of disruption with funding available to mitigate the impact of the closure of the UK's airspace. It does not at this stage believe that the closure of the airports will have a material impact on the airports' ability to finance their activities. As at 31-Mar-2010, London Heathrow and London Stansted airports, which comprise BAA's regulated airports group known as BAA (SP) Limited, had cash and undrawn facilities of over GBP2.2 billion and were operating well within their financial covenants; [more]
    • BAA has also announced plans to waive airport parking charges (telegrpah.co.uk, 20-Apr-2010);
    • Birmingham Airport announced (20-Apr-2010) it is now open. The airport stated that although the decision has been made to reopen the UK airspace, the situation is still very fluid and it will become clear over the coming hours what the airlines will be operating in and out of Birmingham. The airport reportedly stated it has suffered losses of more than GBP 1 million since forcing to close on 15-Apr-2010, including losses of GBP250,000-300,000 per day (UK-Airport-News.info, 20-Apr-2010); [more]
    • Bristol Airport stated it is working with airlines to coordinate details of the flight schedule for 21-Apr-2010
    • Liverpool John Lennon Airport confirmed (20-Apr-2010) the airport plans to resume operations at 0100 21-Apr-2010, after UK airspace reopens on 2200 20-Mar-2010; [more]
    • Cardiff Airport stated it plans to reopen at 2200 20-Apr-2010 (BBC News, 20-Apr-2010);
    • Glasgow Airport was reopened at 1900 20-Apr-2010 (BBC News, 20-Apr-2010). The airport was originally reopened at 0700, but was closed again for an additional six hours.
    • London Gatwick Airport advised passengers not to arrive at the airport before confirming their flights with airlines (BBC News, 20-Apr-2010);
    • London Heathrow Airport COO, Nick Cullen, stated (20-Apr-2010) it will respect any decision from the CAA to reopen UK airspace. The airport has since confirmed it has reopened (AFP, 20-Mar-2010); [more]
    • Ronaldsway Isle of Man Airport announced (20-Apr-2010) it will open as usual at 0615 BST 21-Apr-2010 for visual flight operations. Some Flybe and Aer Arann flights are cancelled in the morning of 21-Apr-2010. However, it is hoped that the movement of the ash plume southwards across Northern & Central England will lead to areas of UK controlled airspace becoming available such that some lunchtime/afternoon Flybe and Aer Arann flights will be able to operate; [more]
  • Ukraine airports were operating normally from 0900 20-Apr-2010 (Interfax-Ukraine, 20-Apr-2010). Director of the Local Organising Committee for Euro-2012, Markiyan Lubkivsky, stated the Ash Attack has shown more work is required to implement a coordination and management system for crisis situations.

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