An image released by an American agency shows plume billowing from a volcano in Eritrea earlier this week. The eruption has disrupted flights between Kenya and some European capitals. AFP photo
Airlines operating from East Africa have started experiencing flight delays following a volcanic eruption in Eritrea, slowing down the supply of fresh produce to Europe and the movement of tourists.
The delays have led some airlines to refund money to customers for flights that failed to take off. Others have had to incur extra costs to accommodate passengers while awaiting clearance from aviation authorities.
Kenya Airways said the eruption had by Tuesday caused delays in take off especially to London. “A London-bound flight scheduled to take off on Monday evening was delayed till this morning. We are also experiencing delays to Amsterdam, Addis Ababa and now we cannot fly to Djibouti after the airport was closed,” said Mr Chris Karanja, the Kenya Airways corporate communications manager.
There were fears that the Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia could be closed as well, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded. KQ was looking for alternative flight routes but this would require clearance for use of the airspace from the countries involved.
“We are seeking the necessary approvals from the countries involved to alter our flight routes,” said Mr Karanja. The disruption of aviation services follows the volcanic ash emitted veering onto the flight routes with changes in wind direction.
Ethiopia Airlines, Africa’s most profitable airline by last year’s financial reports, is set to be one of the worst hit if the Addis Ababa airport closes.
German airline Lufthansa said it had cancelled flights to Eritrea and Ethiopia while British Airways said it had an hour’s delay yesterday for its flight from London to Nairobi.
“We are monitoring the situation and will advise our customers accordingly,” said Mr George Mawadri, the British Airways Kenya country manager.
Mr Mawadri said wind blew the smoke from the volcano into its aeroplane’s flight path, delaying the 065 flight. Virgin Atlantic said its flight schedule was running normally.
The Sunday night eruption at Nabro in the Danakil Depression, close to Eritrea’s border with Ethiopia and north of Djibouti sent an ash cloud more than 13.5 kilometres into the sky, according to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), an advisory body to the aviation industry that monitors volcano eruptions.
The eruption was preceded by seven moderate earthquakes.
The eruption led US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to cut short a three-nation Africa visit.
Because of difficulty in predicting eruptions before they occur, airline executives said business continuity plans come in handy to mitigate against the operational risk.
“From our experience last year when we grounded aircraft for eight days, we now have the capacity to accommodate our passengers if such an incident happened,” said Mr Mawadri.
Players reckon that there is need for constant drills for both airline and airports crew. They further called for expansion of other airports in the country to handle parking and transfer services in case of cancellations and delays.
“I do not think we have the capacity to handle the backlog at JKIA. It is crucial we expand and open up Kisumu and Mombasa airports,” said Mr Nixon Ooko, Fly 540’s operations director.
The latest advisory issued by the VAAC predicted that the ash cloud would spread towards the Middle East, pointing to a possible major disruption of flights connecting the region to other parts of the world.
The ash is expected to reach Saudi Arabia, Jordan, southern Israel, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Jordan, Yemen and Iraq.
Another eruption in Chile has grounded planes at Jorge Newbery airport in South America, forcing UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon to take a bus for a meeting with Argentine leaders in Buenos Aires.
A US Geological Survey failed to determine if the series of earthquakes and the eruption were related as both originated from the same continental rift zone.
The largest known eruption in Africa occurred in May 1861 when the Dubbi volcano, also in Eritrea, showered maritime traffic in the Red Sea with pumice and plunged coastal settlements into darkness.
