Eruption of Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland Experience of European Air Traffic Management

The ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland caused a significant impact on aviation in April and May 2010. In just the period between April 14 and 21, more than 100,000 flights were cancelled, with more than $1.7 billion in lost revenues for airlines and more than 10 million stranded passengers. The magnitude of the impact was caused by the extent of the ash cloud coupled with the duration of the event and the consequent volcanic ash procedures in effect. This event provided significant insight into the handling of the volcanic ash crisis and stirred aviation regulators and other aviation organizations all over the world into action. The unfolding of events is presented; an overview of the lessons learned-such as the need for determination of hazardous ash concentration levels, improvement of forecast validation, and amelioration of information exchange-is given.