Iceland Volcanic Ash Cloud

[clarebear86]

So the Iceland volcanic ash cloud is apparently heading our way, experts are saying that we shouldn't expect the chaos that we had last year but i'm more than slightly worried about it. We're flying from Belfast to Bristol for glasto and would hate for the flight to be cancelled.

I was just wondering was anyone affected by it last year and if so, what was the deal with getting refunds on cancelled flights? Did you get them straight away or have to wait for ages? Just wondering incase we have to book a boat etc...

[ukslim]

Check the T&Cs on your flight ticket.

Also, make sure you know what your travel insurance covers.

[Douzeper]

Heading from Belfast myself, I was thinking that last night when I seen the news, thank god we booked the boat!

[clarebear86]

eeek, havnt got travel insurance yet....maybe I should get that ASAP! lol

[robith]

Flying to Primavera tomorrow - pretty worried

[clarebear86]

hope you get there ok...i'm really hoping the experts are right and its not as bad as it was last year lol

[clarebear86]

he Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland erupted last Saturday and the ash cloud is expected to reach Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland by the early hours of Tuesday morning. It does not necessarily mean there will be airspace closures but flight disruption is possible.

easyJet is liaising closely with the Met Office, National Air Traffic Services and the Civil Aviation Authority to monitor the situation and will take their guidance on any action required from us.

We strongly recommend that passengers travelling to / from the following airports on Tuesday 24th May, visit easyJet.com to check the status of their flight prior to travelling to the airport:-

• Inverness;

• Aberdeen

• Edinburgh

• Glasgow

• Newcastle

• Belfast

• Liverpool

• Manchester

this was on the easyjet website....really hope it doesnt continue

[posthuman]

Guys! We are one whole month from the festival! Don't panic. Even all the trouble that we had last year only lasted for a week - ten days.

If you are determined to panic and worry about hypotheticals:

- It's unlikely that your travel insurance will cover you - most policies typically doesn't cover "acts of God", check the policy wording.

- Buying a policy now would definitely not cover you, as the volcano has already started erupting - all policies exclude things that were present at the time that you took the policy out.

- If a flight is cancelled, you're legally entitled to a full refund of the ticket from the airline, even if it's due to an act of God etc. How quickly you're refunded depends on the airline, but some can really drag their feet. So don't count on getting the money back quickly.

[MyTwistedWords]

During last year's eruption UK airspace was shut down completely by the authorities as a precaution, but this time airlines will make their own decisions about whether it is safe to fly. They have already undergone risk assessments so the only people you can check with are your individual airline. Plus, Glastonbury is over a month away... no way will this problem still exist then! all will be well

[BlackHole2006]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34mHZgP9vkc

Edited May 23, 2011 by BlackHole2006

[parsonjack]

- It's unlikely that your travel insurance will cover you - most policies typically doesn't cover "acts of God", check the policy wording.

- Buying a policy now would definitely not cover you, as the volcano has already started erupting - all policies exclude things that were present at the time that you took the policy out.

- If a flight is cancelled, you're legally entitled to a full refund of the ticket from the airline, even if it's due to an act of God etc. How quickly you're refunded depends on the airline, but some can really drag their feet. So don't count on getting the money back quickly.

[Roo_85]

clare we will get there no matter what happens

[Greenish]

as the man says...if you havent got insurance now then they wont cover as its a pre-existing 'event' already.

[William of Walworth]

Check yer news in detail folks.

Guardian's report from today.

A CAA spokesman said all major UK airlines already had safety preparations for medium-density ash clouds.

"We are in a much better position than last time," he said. "Safety will still be paramount but we will be able to drastically reduce disruption compared to last time, provided there is not a huge amount of high-density ash." The spokesman said a similar level of ash to the Eyjafjallajökull incident would not result in a mass-grounding. "It will be a different picture." However, jets will have to divert around high-density clouds, causing delays on some routes, because no UK airline has submitted a safety case for flying through heavy ash plumes.

Edited May 23, 2011 by William of Walworth

[MilkyJoe]

It had better bloody not still be going on in a months time! I am due to fly home from qatar on the 15th and I'll be swimming back if flights are cancelled again! I'm hoping it has all blown away this time in 3 weeks...

[Taija]

So the Iceland volcanic ash cloud is apparently heading our way, experts are saying that we shouldn't expect the chaos that we had last year but i'm more than slightly worried about it. We're flying from Belfast to Bristol for glasto and would hate for the flight to be cancelled.

I was just wondering was anyone affected by it last year and if so, what was the deal with getting refunds on cancelled flights? Did you get them straight away or have to wait for ages? Just wondering incase we have to book a boat etc...

[Paul ™]

Well it's meant my flight to Dublin this morning was cancelled, no Roger Waters for me

[izcuje]

dear god I hope this one clears up in time. There's no way I'd be able to make it in time on a boat from SE Asia.

[ukmountie]

I'm supposed to go to Egypt on the 10th and fly back on the 17th. I doubt it will go on that long, but who knows. I was in Florida last time and I'm sure the knock on effect lasted at least three weeks.

More to the point if it does go on. How many artists are flying in? U2 for certain. Beyoncnull probably. There'd still be a lot of bands to see, and it certainly wouldn't ruin it for me in any way. Would be disappointing though.

Must be time to sacrifice a virgin. The problem will be finding one.

[tigger123]

There's nothing to worry about as festival is over a month away will def be sorted by then. Tbh even if worst comes to the worst I cant see how Glasto could work cos loads of the acts would not be able to get here either but its not going to happen so no need to worry about it thankfully

[ink1ing]

More to the point if it does go on. How many artists are flying in? U2 for certain.

[Bluearsedfly]

Great name for a band.

[LusciousLucy]

Guys! We are one whole month from the festival! Don't panic. Even all the trouble that we had last year only lasted for a week - ten days.

If you are determined to panic and worry about hypotheticals:

- It's unlikely that your travel insurance will cover you - most policies typically doesn't cover "acts of God", check the policy wording.

- Buying a policy now would definitely not cover you, as the volcano has already started erupting - all policies exclude things that were present at the time that you took the policy out.

[ukmountie]

Every dust cloud has a silver lining then..

[Spindles]

@Lucy, most companies no longer use the term, however the media and, more importantly, the public still do. I would expect that if you were to check the terms and conditions from 100 large companies there would be less than 10 that still contained the phrase. I know that the company that I work for removed it years ago following emails and letters from angry athiests complaining that a fictional character cannot be responsible for anything.