One week following the volcanic eruption in Iceland and the travel chaos continues. It’s kind of an eerie feeling at the moment as there are no planes flying over London and it’s immediately noticeable. I feel a bit selfish at the moment; I am worried that I might not be able to fly to Sweden on the 29th, selfish purely in the thought that there are millions out there in a worse position than myself.
It’s hard to fathom that one volcanic eruption can cause so much devastation; the volcano has caused minimal damage on the ground but utter chaos in the air. It’s the largest shutdown on European airspace in history. So far all flights from the UK have been suspended and several experts have said this could last for months. But what about the people who are already overseas? Those on holiday with nowhere to go or stay, those who are planning to come her for medical treatment and of course there are the imports that we so heavily rely on medicine, food, water, drugs, fuel etc. The list is endless.
The UK is an island that relies heavily on the import of products from overseas and the current scenario is not helping. The governments of Europe have been too over cautious with this ban. Rather than listen to what the airlines have said they have just imposed a complete no-go zone. KLM, SAS, Air France and BA have all conducted test flights and have said there were no problems at all. So why don’t the governments listen to them rather than ignore?
It’s a joke when governments never co-operate with the people that really matter in events like these. Of course passenger safety is the most important factor here but if the airlines are saying it is safe to fly then it should be. Instead we have the Royal Navy ferrying people across the channel costing millions, we have families buying second hand cars and driving across Europe just to get home.
The Airlines need to have the decision here. Not the bureaucrats in charge.
