volcanic ash from Iceland heading towards europe with airports expected to be closed

Stinicker

IzzyWizzy wrote: »

Just got a text from Aer Lingus that they have 'no option but to cancel my flight'. An hour after it was due to take off. Thanks Aer Lingus, that's really, really useful to me. I'd already changed it twice anyway! Why bother texting at all?

Aer Lingus look for any excuse to cancel and cancel flights routinely in fog where Ryanair ploughs on through and gets to the destination. They are waste of time imo.

o1s1n

Stinicker wrote: »

Aer Lingus look for any excuse to cancel and cancel flights routinely in fog where Ryanair ploughs on through and gets to the destination. They are waste of time imo.

Only just. I always feel like I'm going to die on a Ryanair flight.

Olduvai

Webmonkey wrote: »

This is sickening, stuck in Munich, paying for hotel. I was returning from Holiday and now all my remaining money is going

Looks like Munich will end up getting closed down now later on as cloud comes down here. I'm scheduled to fly back tomorrow morning to Cork, not sure what the chances of that are now.

If your flight has been cancelled and you are stuck overseas in another EU member state you are entitled to receive overnight accommodation, meals, refreshments, two telephone calls or emails and a list of your rights as an affected airline passenger. This is the law.

If the airline doesnt provide the accommodation, you are then entitled to book into any hotel whatsoever and at whatever cost. Keep receipts for all the purchases you make and claim a refund under this;

EU Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004

Airlines cannot use "an act of god" as an excuse not to provide you with accommodation or refreshments. They can only use this not to provide you with financial compensation which is another entitlement in non-act of god circumstances for delay or cancellation.

Hope this info helps.

This information is on the EU in Ireland's website. You can also report the airline for a breach in this regulation. If you are stuck in the UK get in touch with the air transport users council.

Bally8

Can anyone tell me why shannon is closed now and Dublin still open?

BluesBerry

Because Shannon is closer to Iceland than Dublin :pac:

LookingFor

Bally8 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me why shannon is closed now and Dublin still open?

There's a big bank of 'dust risk area' off the south coast, and it's pushed back up onto the coast this evening. All airports in the southern parts of the country, Shannon, Cork, Kerry, Waterford etc. are closed to takeoffs and landings again.

They warned this might happen earlier in the day when they reopened the airspace, and sure enough it has.

On another note...lots of complaints on Twitter about how Aer Lingus is handling this. Apparently they're not taking care of stranded passengers nearly as well as other airlines, adopting a fairly 'it's not our problem' attitude. Limited staff at desks, and phone lines closed at 5pm. Late notifications of flight cancellations, sometimes none at all. Impossible to get speaking to anyone.

I'm amazed I'm saying this, but I think Ryanair has on balance taken the much more customer friendly route than Aer Lingus. At least everyone knows where they stand with Ryanair and can plan alternatives, whereas with Aer Lingus you're in this perpetual limbo with no idea of what's going to happen.

sron

I'm in Dublin at the moment and it's very dark and I can't see the sun; that must mean the ash cloud's after hitting.

Old Jim

Webmonkey wrote: »

I would have thought Emirates be fair. They lovely airline to fly with. I'm only after coming back from Dubai with them to Munich and stuck here.

Best luck with your travels.

Same boat here. Stuck in Munich. AerLingus haven't cancelled tomorrow evening's flight to Dub yet but I'm sure they will. Any ideas on how to get to Ireland??

watna

Old Jim wrote: »

Same boat here. Stuck in Munich. AerLingus haven't cancelled tomorrow evening's flight to Dub yet but I'm sure they will. Any ideas on how to get to Ireland??

I've driven from Munich to Ireland before. Through Germany and Belgium. Then on the euro tunnel to Dover. Then down to Fishguard in Wales and then driven up to Dublin from Rosslare.

We stayed overnight in Belgium and one night in Wales. We avoided France because the toll roads were so expensive there.

FunkZ

Flight home from Rome was cancelled on Thursday morning.

Todays flight was cancelled...

Next booked flight is Monday. Hope I get home, if I donàt Iàm interailing to France with a swim to Iceland followed with a roundhouse kick.

amcalester

Olduvai wrote: »

If your flight has been cancelled and you are stuck overseas in another EU member state you are entitled to receive overnight accommodation, meals, refreshments, two telephone calls or emails and a list of your rights as an affected airline passenger. This is the law.

If the airline doesnt provide the accommodation, you are then entitled to book into any hotel whatsoever and at whatever cost. Keep receipts for all the purchases you make and claim a refund under this;

EU Regulation (EC) No. 261/2004

Airlines cannot use "an act of god" as an excuse not to provide you with accommodation or refreshments. They can only use this not to provide you with financial compensation which is another entitlement in non-act of god circumstances for delay or cancellation.

Hope this info helps.

This information is on the EU in Ireland's website. You can also report the airline for a breach in this regulation. If you are stuck in the UK get in touch with the air transport users council.

Do you know what the story is if you are stranded outside the EU but flying into the EU with an American airline (continental).

We've been rebooked onto a flight on Tuesday of next week but dont really have the money to do anything but mope around the hostel.

DubMedic

Stinicker wrote: »

Aer Lingus look for any excuse to cancel and cancel flights routinely in fog where Ryanair ploughs on through and gets to the destination. They are waste of time imo.

Well I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my safety put first, rather than the profit the airline can make by 'ploughing on regardless'.

Aer Lingus are a nice airline to travel with. You will be treated like a human being. Not like some sort of cattle herd in a slaughterhouse a la ryanair.

donkey balls

DubMedic wrote: »

Well I don't know about you, but I'd rather have my safety put first, rather than the profit the airline can make by 'ploughing on regardless'.

Aer Lingus are a nice airline to travel with. You will be treated like a human being. Not like some sort of cattle herd in a slaughterhouse a la ryanair.

utter b*ll*x regardless of wether its aerlingus/ryanair they have a minimun to which they can land the aircraft in.

laugh

o1s1n wrote: »

Only just. I always feel like I'm going to die on a Ryanair flight.

lol, the business model would instantly collapse if people thought it wasn't as safe as other airlines.

Thomas828

I walked around London City Airport this afternoon. I've never seen an airport so lifeless. The cafes were open but everything else was at a standstill. Then I went to the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras and it was the very opposite. There was a queue for the ticket office a mile long and people with luggage outnumbered ordinary commuters by three to one!

Olduvai

amcalester wrote: »

Do you know what the story is if you are stranded outside the EU but flying into the EU with an American airline (continental).

We've been rebooked onto a flight on Tuesday of next week but dont really have the money to do anything but mope around the hostel.

In scope, this Regulation shall apply:
(a) to passengers departing from an airport located in the territory
of a Member State to which the Treaty applies;
(b) to passengers departing from an airport located in a third
country to an airport situated in the territory of a Member
State to which the Treaty applies, unless they received
benefits or compensation and were given assistance in that
third country, if the operating air carrier of the flight
concerned is a Community carrier.

From what I can gather if the airline is a community carrier the same rules apply. I am not too certain on what happens if the operating carrier is not a community carrier. I would try looking at the Commission for Aviation Regulations website or the Air Transport Users Council, or the European Commission in Ireland's website. If your are in the US, you could do an online check to see if there are similar rights over there. I am sure they'd have some sort of consumer rights/watchdogs or equivalent to aviation regulators. Consular assistance may also be helpful at last or first resort.

kpatrick

kpatrick wrote: »

Did anyone else see the ash plume at sunset? Photos taken from western Ireland tonight

Where are you and what direction were you looking - roughly E-SE I guess.

LookingFor

Situation's gotten worse apparently.

Irish airspace reclosed, including for transatlantic flights, until 6pm.

UK airspace closed til 7pm.

The more recent eruptions have been ejecting ash higher into the atmosphere and this apparently increases the risk area.

As always, Aer Lingus is slow to update anything...their site still thinks they're flying at 1pm today :rolleyes:

Ryanair's action may have looked drastic yesterday, but it seems it will be vindicated. There's another big area of ash growing from the north with the wind's going northerly (check out the Volcanic Ash Advisory forecast here: http://metoffice.com/aviation/vaac/data/VAG_1271483349.png)

Webmonkey

LookingFor wrote: »

Situation's gotten worse apparently.

Irish airspace reclosed, including for transatlantic flights, until 6pm.

UK airspace closed til 7pm.

The more recent eruptions have been ejecting ash higher into the atmosphere and this apparently increases the risk area.

As always, Aer Lingus is slow to update anything...their site still thinks they're flying at 1pm today :rolleyes:

Ryanair's action may have looked drastic yesterday, but it seems it will be vindicated. There's another big area of ash growing from the north with the wind's going northerly (check out the Volcanic Ash Advisory forecast here: http://metoffice.com/aviation/vaac/data/VAG_1271483349.png)

Aerlingus are a bit of a joke alright. They sent exact same cancelation text message too, couldn't be bothered giving more information.

Yeah does look like it worstening. I've been on booking.com too and looks like all hotels are filling up and prices going up sky high

watna

Well, my flights have been officially cancelled. Emirates aren't answering their phones, in the three countries I've tried and my emergency assistance from my travel agent is to call the uk company, who are also not answering.

Also not impressed at Aer Lingus. I have a flight to Heathrow booked today to get me to my NZ flight and it's still showing as leaving on time, even though the airspace will definitely be closed so I know it's cancelled. Seriously, pull your finger out. I know it's Saturday morning but surely they have a crisis management plan or something in place to ensure that their customers are updated on the situation adequately.

/goes to try ring all the phone numbers again

LookingFor

Good luck with that. According to Twitter people they promptly closed the phone lines at 5pm yesterday as if it were an ordinary day.

What annoys me is that they're even slow to just update their 'disruption' page. They'll put out new advice to the media and RTE etc. but then it's ages before it even appears on their own site! They said yesterday they had teams working round the clock, updating their flight database minute to minute, but that's just BS.

I'm meant to be flying tomorrow with Aer Lingus to London, and the not-knowing is driving me crazy. 24 hours notice would be very handy for my situation.

watna

LookingFor wrote: »

Good luck with that. According to Twitter people they promptly closed the phone lines at 5pm yesterday as if it were an ordinary day.

What annoys me is that they're even slow to just update their 'disruption' page. They'll put out new advice to the media and RTE etc. but then it's ages before it even appears on their own site! They said yesterday they had teams working round the clock, updating their flight database minute to minute, but that's just BS.

I'm meant to be flying tomorrow with Aer Lingus to London, and the not-knowing is driving me crazy. 24 hours notice would be very handy for my situation.

I think 24 hours notice is fair too. Emirates did give about 20 hours notice which is fair but it would help if they would answer their phones somewhere.

I'm hoping the travel agent opens at 9. I'm going to be in there like a shot so I can at least get a flight next weeked (I think that is the first date when their will be seats available)

I also noticed Aer Lingus's lack of updating on their site. It still has it has flights being cancelled until 1pm today when in fact the closure was update to 7pm today - this happened at 2.30am this morning and another announcement was expected at 8.30am so they're quite out of date.

watna

Just to add - an announcement has been added to the NATS site. UK airspace is now closed until at least 1am tomorrow (sunday).

lookingfor - I think you can safely assume that your flight will be cancelled. I suggest getting the ferry. If you take a car there is still space.

Unfortunately, you can't take a ferry to New Zealand!

LookingFor

watna wrote: »

Just to add - an announcement has been added to the NATS site. UK airspace is now closed until at least 1am tomorrow (sunday)

Bububu-t Aer Lingus says they're flying to Heathrow at 1440 today! :pac:

Webmonkey

Oh great...I must move out of Munich...hotel prices are going up to 300 euro night next week because of some festival. I don't think I'd be comfortable in hostel unfort....I'll get parents to transfer money next week.

watna

LookingFor wrote: »

Bububu-t Aer Lingus says they're flying to Heathrow at 1440 today! :pac:

I'll bet they do! My flight is at 5pm today and they've just changed the status to cancelled now.

Webmonkey wrote: »

Oh great...I must move out of Munich...hotel prices are going up to 300 euro night next week because of some festival. I don't think I'd be comfortable in hostel unfort....I'll get parents to transfer money next week.

Oh dear, have you looked in to the train/ferry yet? Could your parents meet you somewhere in a car? My dad was full of plans to drive me to Heathrow if my emirates flight was going but Aer Lingus weren't. I think he's enjoying it a little bit, tbh.

Webmonkey

watna wrote: »

I'll bet they do! My flight is at 5pm today and they've just changed the status to cancelled now.



Oh dear, have you looked in to the train/ferry yet? Could your parents meet you somewhere in a car? My dad was full of plans to drive me to Heathrow if my emirates flight was going but Aer Lingus weren't. I think he's enjoying it a little bit, tbh.

I guess I could but it will still cost fortune travelling Ireland then, and my car is parked in cork airport. It going cost about 150 euro now at this stage I'd say! It been parked since April 03rd!

I think I'll just move out to quite spot and spend a few days holiday here. Might as well enjoy myself. And come back then Thursday or something.

My father working also so doubt he can do much...I'll work it out

On the plus side, I'll miss something I'm dreading next week if this goes on further :pac:

LookingFor

Aer Lingus said something:

9.00 Aer Lingus has confirmed that all UK, European and US flights scheduled to depart Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Belfast, London Heathrow and Gatwick today have been cancelled, including Aer Lingus Regional flights.

Of course, their own website notice still hasn't changed.

And, of course, it appears they're going to leave tomorrow's flights down to the wire again. I'm pretty sure my flight won't go tomorrow yet I can't do anything about it until Aer Lingus cancels...which will probably only be a few hours beforehand.

Webmonkey

I seriously doubt any flights will go tomorrow either tbh.

How will they sort the backlog of people?

LookingFor

Webmonkey wrote: »

I seriously doubt any flights will go tomorrow either tbh.

How will they sort the backlog of people?

If your flight's cancelled you rebook on a later flight or get a refund.

I have doubts they'll put on any extra services once they can resume flights. So basically flights will be jam packed for a while.

This is also why I'd like early notice...so I can make alternative arrangements ASAP.

Does anyone know if a change of flight in these circumstances is entirely free? Or is only the change fee waived? If the latter I'm screwed, cos they seem to be upping their prices on flights next week.