Volcanic Disruption 2011 - Travel Thread!

Stinicker

Dozens of flights have been cancelled tonight primarily between Ireland and Scotland and from Scotland to other destinations. As we saw last year, people will still need to travel and if it spreads across the continent then chaos like last year will ensue.

You find yourself caught up or stranded then fear not I'll try to assist from here

If you are in the UK or Continental Europe you will be able to get home to Ireland, however analyse the situation, check with your airline, local media and airport and then make an informed choice having weighed up the options yourself.

To help people who are likely to become stranded these links should hopefully help them out:

Travel Websites in General:
www.bahn.de/en Website of the German National Rail Company, brilliant for timetables of rail services all around Europe.

www.eurolines.ie or www.eurolines.co.uk This is the European conglomerate bus Service which runs international long distance buses across the continent. Tickets are usually quite cheap and during last years Volcanic disruption Bus Eireann added extra capacity to deal with the sudden upsurge in passenger numbers. There is numerous services to Ireland with the Bus going all the ways across on the ferry to your Irish destination. I did the trip recently and London to Cork takes around 15 hours from point to point.

www.seat61.com is a good website for information on cross border trains worldwide.

www.nationalexpress.co.uk the largest Bus company in the UK
www.nationalrail.co.uk, timetabling across the plethora of private train operators in the UK.

UK :
Sail Rail between UK & Ireland
http://www.irishferries.com/ie/sailrail.asp
http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/SailRail/
http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/rail-and-sail/
http://www.stenaline.ie/ferry/rail-and-sail/holyhead/

Ferry Services from Wales to Ireland and vice versa:
www.irishferries.com
www.stenaline.ie www.stenaline.co.uk
www.fastnetline.com

Irish Ferries Sail from Pembroke to Rosslare and from Dublin Port to Holyhead.
Stena Line sail from Fishguard to Rosslare
Stena Line sail from Holyhead to Dublin Port and Dun Laoghaire
Fastnet sail from Swansea to Cork

Ferry Services from England to Ireland and vice versa:
http://www.poferries.com/
P&O sail from Dublin to Liverpool

Ferry Services from Scotland & Liverpool to Northern Ireland and vice versa:
www.stenaline.ie www.stenaline.co.uk
http://www.poferries.com/
http://www.norfolkline.com/EN/Irish_Sea_Ferries/Belfast_Liverpool

Stena Line sail from Stranraer to Belfast
Stena Line sail from Liverpool to Belfast, having recently acquired the route from Norfolk Line, bookings are still made on the norfolk line website.
P&O sail from Troon to Larne
P&O sail from Cairnyan to Larne

France:
Ferry Services from France to Ireland and vice versa:
http://www.brittanyferries.ie/
www.irishferries.com

Brittany Ferries Sail from Roscoff to Cork
Irish Ferries Sail from Roscoff to Rosslare
Irish Ferries Sail from Cherbourg to Rosslare

Train services in France are provided by SNCF;
http://www.sncf.fr/en_EN/html/

Bus services in France are very fragmented and inconvenient compared to other countries.
http://www.bugeurope.com/transport/busfr.html
http://www.francetravelguide.com/bus-travel-in-france.html

Iberia:
If you are stranded in Iberia and need to get home, then options would be the Ferry from Santander to Plymouth or from Bilbao to either Plymouth or Portsmouth in the UK and onwards to Ireland then.
http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ Note there are only a handful of sailings a week and it is not a daily service like on the Irish sea or English Channel.

http://www.renfe.com/ is the Spanish National Railway company
http://www.cp.pt is the Portugeuse Railway company
http://www.alsa.es is a major spanish bus company
http://www.spain-faqs.com/buses-in-spain.htm
http://www.rede-expressos.pt/ is the Portuguese National bus company

Alternatively you could make your way up through France by Coach or Train and across the Channel to the UK and then onwards to Ireland.

Continental Europe
Anyone in continental Europe should head for the Ferry across the English channel or else try get a Eurostar train to London from either Paris or Brussels. Once in the UK they can then move onwards to Ireland.

There are too many ferries between the UK and Mainland Europe to list here however the link below covers pretty much it all:
http://www.directferries.co.uk
www.eurostar.com

North America & Beyond:
If you have deep pockets you can still sail from Southampton to New York aboard the new Queen Mary II just like in the days of old, however conditions nowadays are more luxurious and Icebergs are less of a problem. I doubt your travel insurance would cover it though
http://www.cunard.co.uk/Destinations/Transatlantic-Crossings/Transatlantic-Experience/


Finally don't panic, the ash cloud has not yet caused the chaos it did in 2010 and this list is just to help you out in a worst case scenario and to help you draw up your own contingency plan if you want to now should the worst happen.

PWEI

A colleague in work said that Dublin airport was closed until lunch but I can't find any information it only that flights to Scotland were cancelled. My sister is flying to Italy at lunchtime.

gar32

Any one any long term news on this? I am flying in just over a week all going well. Dublin to Krakow. Other half would go wild if we can't get to her sisters wedding.

I am sure many in same boat. Any one pay extra for insurance to cover this type of thing?

Thanks

whatawaster

Flying Dublin to London to Bangkok next Thursday. are airlines obliged to reschedule in these circumstances?

MiCr0

DublinAirport on twitter wrote:

May 24 2011
While the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) have advised us that they do not expect any disruption to services in Irish airspace or at Irish airports some flight schedules MAY BE affected as a result of ash contamination in airspace at other airports.
Passengers are advised to consult with their airline or airline’s website BEFORE travelling to the airport. For the latest information follow Dublin Airport on Twitter or access our Twitter updates online at http://twitter.com/dublinairport
Posted: 09.30

Taken from the DAA site and twitter

Taffy Kat

I know there is a sticky somewhere on this topic but I can't find it.

We're (I, my wife and son) flying out on Saturday afternoon to Bergamo (Milan) for our family holiday. Are we likely to get there? We're going with Ryanair so I suppose we have a better chance than with Aer Lingus/others as Mick O'Leary will push it to the limit rather than lose money.

Also, if its cancelled do we:

(a)have the right to move the flights to later in the summer as it would only cost €100 to cancel our accomodation. (We don't want to move the departure date without moving the return date so it would suit us if we could prevail of this option). The flights are return flights so if we can't use the 1st leg we can't use the 2nd.

(b)have any rights per the €100 accomodation cancellation fee (this is a minor issue as it works out as €50 each).

Going to Heathrow from Dublin on Thursday morning with Aer Lingus,really hope everyone makes their flights.Its amazing,we booked this short break to London in January and as soon as we are about to go this happens ggggrrrrr!

wolfmoon87

From Ryanair website;

24 May - Volcanic Disruptions Scotland

UPDATED: 11:00hrs (Tues 24 May) NEXT UPDATE: 13:00hrs (24 May)

Ryanair has been advised by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) that we may not operate flights to/from Glasgow Prestwick, Edinburgh or Aberdeen until 13:00hrs Tuesday 24th May 2011.
Ryanair strongly objects to this decision and believe that there is no basis for these flight cancellations and is meeting with the IAA this morning to have this restriction on Ryanair flights removed as a matter of urgency.
Ryanair confirms that it operated a one hour verification flight up to 41,000 feet in Scottish airspace this morning (24th May). The aircraft took off from Glasgow Prestwick, flew to Inverness, on to Aberdeen and down to Edinburgh - all of which according to CAA charts were in the “red zone” of “high ash concentration”.

There was no visible volcanic ash cloud or any other presence of volcanic ash and the post flight inspection revealed no evidence of volcanic ash on the airframe, wings or engines. The absence of any volcanic ash in the atmosphere supports Ryanair’s stated view that there is no safety threat to aircraft in this mythical “red zone” which is another misguided invention by the UK Met Office and the CAA.

Ryanair has also received written confirmation from both its airframe and engine manufacturers that it is safe to operate in these so called “red zones” and, in any event, Ryanair’s verification flight this morning also confirms that the “red zone” over Scotland is non-existent.

Ryanair has renewed its calls on both the CAA in the UK and the IAA in Ireland to reopen airspace over Scotland and allow airlines to operate flights safely when this morning’s verification flight has demonstrated that the UK Met Office’s “red zone” forecasts are totally unreliable and unsupported by any evidence of volcanic ash concentrations whatsoever.
The below listed flights have been cancelled as a result of the volcanic ash.
CLICK HERE FOR LIST OF CANCELLED FLIGHTS: 24th May'11
Passengers who were booked to travel on a cancelled flight can apply online for a refund of their unused flight(s) OR transfer to the next available flight free of charge online, or by calling our reservation centre (subject to opening hours).
CLICK HERE TO REBOOK FREE ONLINE: to rebook to an alternative Ryanair flight free of charge, subject to seat availability.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY FOR A REFUND ONLINE: to cancel your flight(s) and claim a full refund of the unused flight(s), simply click on the link and enter the required details. Refunds will be processed within 14 working days back to the original form of payment.
CLICK HERE FOR RESERVATION CENTRES NUMBERS
Click HERE for a written notice setting out the rules for compensation and assistance in line with EU Regulation 261/2004. This EU261/04 notice is also available at all Ryanair Ticket Desks at all airports.
Ryanair apologise sincerely for what we believe are unnecessary cancellations.

mikedragon32

Great OP.

I'll stick this thread.

AfterDusk

Taffy Kat wrote: »

We're going with Ryanair so I suppose we have a better chance than with Aer Lingus/others as Mick O'Leary will push it to the limit rather than lose money.

What's that supposed to mean? You're saying that Ryanair would risk the lives of it's passengers, crew and aircraft in order to make money?! I seriously think you should use your brain before you post things like that!

"If you think safety is expensive, try dealing with a crash!"

280special

Just watching what I presume is another Ryanair test flight over Scotland. Strange but they dont seem to have gone over 12 or 13,000 ft, dont most of these flights operate at 20,000 + ??

Or are they trying to prove that it is possible to fly underneath the ash cloud?

AfterDusk

280special wrote: »

Just watching what I presume is another Ryanair test flight over Scotland. Strange but they dont seem to have gone over 12 or 13,000 ft, dont most of these flights operate at 20,000 + ??

Or are they trying to prove that it is possible to fly underneath the ash cloud?

That latest one was a repositioning flight. It was an a/c that diverted from EDI to PIK yesterday.

EDIT: Ryanair's test flight was also done up to 41,000ft

Stinicker

This piece by Sky news answers alot of questions; it is UK centric but they like Ireland are bound by the same EU regulations so most of it applies over here too.
Link

There is hopes that the situation will ease tomorrow as it is governed by the Wind, Link

At moment the cloud is is heavily concentrated over Northern Scotland with lower concentrations over Ireland, Wales and Northern England. The South and South East of England and critically London remains clear at the moment, this will change with the prevailing winds but luckily so far most of the eruption is being funnelled up over Greenland and North Eastwards into the Artic north of Svalbard.

Taffy Kat

neil2304 wrote: »

What's that supposed to mean? You're saying that Ryanair would risk the lives of it's passengers, crew and aircraft in order to make money?! I seriously think you should use your brain before you post things like that!

"If you think safety is expensive, try dealing with a crash!"

Um what does 'limit' mean? Supposing if my car hits 71mph it will explode but at 70 it won't and I drive at 70 then you would say I'm driving at the limit but my activity wouldn't be considered dangerous. Shame you can't interpret properly. Most air travellers know Ryanair will cancel when told to do so whereas certain other airlines will make the decision for themselves before getting official word, but then you're obviously one of those people who like to use a keyboard to make them feel big.

mikedragon32

Taffy Kat and neil2304 take it to PM if you want to slug it out.

Please keep to facts and use this thread for updates or to seek advice on how to make alternative arrangements should the need arise.