Volcanic Ash in Europe causing havoc with air travel

[Lobster]

Must be a relief now that you are back home... So when you headed to your new job location?

1st May I head to Bangkok and then depending on whether my visa comes through should head on to Myanmar the following week

[Pinkfloyd]

1st May I head to Bangkok and then depending on whether my visa comes through should head on to Myanmar the following week

Guess it's a hassel trying toget the visas done... Best of luck anyways!

[Lobster]

LH have just phoned to say they have found my luggage which is a big relief.

[MAN Flyer]

Not again....

Ireland has just anounced it is closing it's airspace/airports from 0600 - 1200 on Tuesday beacuse of volcanic ash....

[225]

Yep, northern parts of Scotland as well, however they are saying its a lot smaller and shouldn't effect any other flights at present. Fingers crossed as flying to UK tonight!

[Gunners]

List of airport closures in BST from CAA

Glasgow 0700-1900
Prestwick 0700-1900
Inverness 0700-1300
Stornoway 0700-1900
Benbecula 0700-1900
Tiree 0700-1900
Islay 0700-1900
Barra 0700-1900
Campbeltown 0700-1900
Derry 0700-1900
Belfast International 1300-1900
Belfast City 1300-1900
Dublin 1100 onwards
Edinburgh 1300-1800

[Singapore Sling]

Volcanic ash cloud is back in UK. No fly zone over parts of the UK has extended south to include Birmingham and Norwich airports. Manchester, Leeds-Bradford, Liverpool, Doncaster, Humberside, East Midlands are already in the no fly zone. London airports could also be affected Monday with restrictions potentially until Tuesday morning.

[nickbot]

I know the direct answer to my question below is "The ash cloud is dependent upon weather conditions, UK airspace could be closed or it could be open when you intend to travel, so if your trip is vital then take whatever steps you feel are necessary to travel by other means as appropriate", but I'd appreciate any opinions that would help crystallise my thoughts:

mrs nickbot and I will be flying BHX-ZRH and then ZRH-JFK towards the end of next month (2 seperate bookings, consecutive days) and I'm growing a little concerned over the potential for UK airport closures due to the ash situation. Whilst this can/has affected ZRH, it seems the UK is copping it more frequently at the moment.

As a consequence, I'm toying with booking a 1 way train fare from Nottingham to Zurich,...1 way, non refundable fare is working out to a total of £314 for 2 pax (Nottingham to London in F, London to Paris in Y, Paris to Zurich in J). This will require a stopover in Paris from midnight to circa 06:30. As an aside, Y fares all the way would be only ~£14 cheaper in total for 2 pax, so I'm not simply opting for F/J in the face of significantly cheaper alternatives.

Just mulling things over, £314 is considerably more expensive than my Swiss flight BHX-ZRH (BD redemption in J), which I can at least cancel I suppose - does anyone have any thoughts?

[jjpb3]

Your risk aversion is showing, nickbot.

Although I think it's a good idea to scope out a Plan B, I also think it's much too far out (the trip is for end of June, is that right?) actually to activate the Plan B. I think there's just too much uncertainty at the moment -- just last week, MUC was shut down overnight, but there wasn't any kind of disruption in the UK. The Plan B is pretty pricey as well (then again, that's the perspective of someone who can't conceive of planning a shopping trip, particularly to an economy against whose currency the £ has depreciated ).

[nickbot]

Thank you jjpb3 - risk averse,...moi?

You're correct, the trip is at the end of June, but my reasoning for scoping out the Plan B. this early on is that *if* UK airspace is closed when we're due to fly, I'm thinking that Eurostar availability will be tight (and price elevated so close to the date?)

Fair point re. MUC being closed when UK airports were open, perhaps the best course of action is just to wait and see. It's a shame that cheaper fully refundable tickets aren't available on Eurostar, or else that would be a no brainer I suppose.

[phaleesy]

Thank you jjpb3 - risk averse,...moi?

Yes, nickbot!

I've got flights booked for end May and mid June from LHR and I have not given any thought to the ash situation. If I was stuck somewhere in Europe, I'd train/drive/ferry whatever back. I like to think I'm risk neutral.

[nickbot]

Yes, nickbot!

I've got flights booked for end May and mid June from LHR and I have not given any thought to the ash situation. If I was stuck somewhere in Europe, I'd train/drive/ferry whatever back. I like to think I'm risk neutral.

I don't mind being stuck overseas,...it's not being able to depart that I'm worried about

[phaleesy]

I don't mind being stuck overseas,...it's not being able to depart that I'm worried about

Yes, I am aware of that.

I was just trying (unsuccessfully!) to give an example of my own situation. Unlike you, I'd be more worried about not getting back into the UK for work. So if I was risk averse, I'd be booking train tickets back home for those weekends!

[nickbot]

I very much understand your point phaleesy - in a way I'm also worried about getting back for work, but I'm more worried about messing up my finely crafted redemption