No danger for Romania's air space in next two days from Icelandic volcano ash cloud

The Romanian air space will not be affected in the next 48 hours by the ash cloud from the recent volcano eruption in Iceland, according to Bogdan Donciu, the General Manager of the Romanian Administration of Air Traffic Services. “It’s a good thing that the there was no wind. For at least 48 hours we are safe,” said Donciu. According to him, there are low chances for the volcanic ash to spread to Romania. “We will try to use restrictions for the air traffic only if it is absolutely necessary. I do not think the ash cloud will reach Romania, but we will probably get some less harmful volcanic dust,” he went on. The ash released into the atmosphere by the Grímsvötn Icelandic volcano eruption caused disturbances to the air traffic from Northern Europe, although the volcanic activity has decreased during Monday. Among the airlines that have been forced to suspend their flights are British Airways, KLM, Cargo Loganair, Aer Lingus and Easyjet. The Grímsvötn Icelandic volcano erupted on May 21, releasing a plume of ash which went 12 kilometers high in the atmosphere, disrupting air travel in Iceland and in Greenland, Scotland and Norway on May 22 and 23. The scale of this eruption was much larger than that of the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Then, the air traffic across the European continent was paralyzed. Although this recent eruption released more ash into the atmosphere than the one in 2010, the ash particules are heavier and they will fall on the ground faster, causing less disturbance to air traffic, according to scientists. Alex Camburu, alex.camburu@romania-insider.com