Satellite image of Iceland’s troublemaking ash cloud

All airports in Ireland and Scotland reopened Thursday after the dreaded ash cloud moved westward back over the Atlantic earlier this week. Airports in both countries were shut down for two days due to Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul volcano latest threat to European air space.

More than 100,000 travelers were affected by the ash cloud and airlines in Ireland and Britain ordered extra service Thursday to alleviate the wait time due to massive delays. Since the last eruption on April 13, the volcano has been burping up miles of ash. Between April 14 and 20, several European countries had to ground all flights, which wound up costing them billions and stranded an estimated 10 million travelers.

But the ash cloud is not going away anytime soon. As the ash continues to hover over the Atlantic, Eurocontrol, an intergovernmental agency based in Brussels, predicted on Thursday that the ash concentration could cause more flight issues Friday for trans-Atlantic planes flying out of Ireland. If winds continue blowing at their current rate, the ash cloud could climb back up to 35,000 feet, which is about the same cruising altitude of long-haul aircraft.

Has the ash cloud affected your travel plans? Were you one of the many stranded a few weeks ago. Share your ash cloud travel stories with us and fellow blog readers.

Source: CBS

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