British Airspace Reopened – 20 April 2010
After days and days of travel chaos, British airspace and and airports across the UK finally fully reopened today.
And what was it all caused by? A terrorist attack? No, the volcano in Iceland of course! We’ve heard so much about it this last week, that it’s good to see Britain now finally working again.
“One minute, they [Iceland] are pinching our money, the next, they’re cancelling our holidays!”
Unknown
While it is not yet clear if the problems may resume with an eruption of the neighbouring volcano, what it does mean is that holiday-makers and others currently stranded abroad will be able to get home.
Over the last few days;
- Dan Snow made a gallant effort to get as many stranded Brits in Calais across the channel on RIBS as possible
- 20 times more foot passengers were taken across the channel than normal
- British airspace and airports were completely shut
Gradually over the course of this evening, airports have been opening, but at 2200 BST all were officially reopened.
This is such good news, not least for my sister, who’s stuck in Houston. She went to Costa Rica with some lucky UK Guides on Easter Day, for an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime trip. When they went, they changed at New York, but had no time to explore. On Saturday, when they were coming back, they flew to Houston but then clearly could not go any further. They’ve been staying in a hotel this week, but with nothing to do and little money, it’ll be a relief when they can finally leave again.
Meanwhile, an odd effect has occurred: the entire country has turned into plane spotters…
