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ASH

Sweden flights affected by technical problems

Technical problems were to blame for grounded planes in Norway and Sweden on Monday, airport operators said with the eruption of Iceland's Grimsvötn volcano yet to have an impact on aviation in Scandinavia.

Published: 24 May 2011 07:13 CEST

In Sweden, a faulty radar at Umeå airport halted air traffic in the north for several hours.

“The problem has now been resolved,” said Bo Lindgre of operator Swedavia.

In neighbouring Norway, airport operator Avinor suspended air traffic managed by its Bodø control centre in the north after a fibre optics problem affected its communications system.

Flights resumed around an hour later thanks to a back-up system, Avinor said in a statement.

Ash from the volcanic eruption has not yet had a significant impact on air traffic in Scandinavia with forecasts indicating that the ash cloud would arrive on Tuesday.

“It looks like it will come in over Swedish territory during the latter part of Tuesday, but probably with a very low concentration,” said Gustav Åström at Sweden’s Meteorological Institute (SMHI) to the TT news agency on Monday afternoon.

The eruption of the Grimsvötn volcano in south-east Iceland is reported to be more extensive than the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 which caused weeks of air travel chaos across Europe.

Sweden’s Civil Aviation Administration (Luftfartsverket – LFV) meanwhile confirmed on Monday morning that aside from flights to Iceland, Swedish air traffic was operating normally.

“The ash from the Grimsvötn volcano is not affecting Swedish air traffic as the situation is now. The Swedish Transport Agency is the authority which would decide on restrictions. The Civil Aviation Administration is following developments,” LFV said in a statement on its webpage on Monday evening.

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LA PALMA

3,000 people in Spain’s La Palma forced indoors as lava reaches sea

Around 3,000 people were ordered to remain indoors on the Canary island of La Palma on Monday as lava from an erupting volcano reached the sea, risking the release of toxic gas.

Published: 23 November 2021 09:03 CET
3,000 people in Spain's La Palma forced indoors as lava reaches sea
The lava flow produced by the Cumbre Vieja volcano has reached the sea before. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

The Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca) “ordered the confinement” of residents of coastal towns and villages near where the lava cascaded into the sea, sending large plumes of white smoke into the air, local emergency services said on Twitter.

The order was given due to “the possible release of gases that are harmful to health,” it added.

The order affects “around 3,000” people on the island, Miguel Angel Morcuende, technical director of Pevolca, told a news conference.

This is the third time that a lava flow has reached the Atlantic Ocean since the Cumbre Vieja volcano in the south of the island erupted on September 19th, covering large areas with ash.

All flights to and from La Palma’s airport were cancelled on Monday because of the ash, the third straight day that air travel has been disrupted.

And for the first time since the eruption started, local authorities advised residents of La Palma’s capital, Santa Cruz de La Palma in the east, to use high-filtration FFP2 face masks to protect themselves from emissions of dioxide and sulphur.

Most of the island, which is home to around 85,000 people, is so far unaffected by the eruption.

But parts of the western side where lava flows have slowly made their way to the sea face an uncertain future.

The molten rock has covered 1,065 hectares (2,630 acres) and destroyed nearly 1,500 buildings, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s satellite monitoring service.

Lava has destroyed schools, churches, health centres and irrigation infrastructure for the island’s banana plantations — a key source of jobs — as well as hundreds of homes.

Provisional damage was estimated on Friday at nearly €900 million ($1 billion), according to the regional government.

The island of La Palma, part of the Canary Islands archipelago off northwestern Africa, is experiencing its third eruption in a century, with
previous ones in 1949 and 1971.

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