Erupting Iceland Eyjafjallajökull volcano (
Wikipedia info link) sends ash into the upper atmosphere causing worldwide disruption to 1000's of travellers.
More details can be found in Wikipedia with photos of the
erupting volcano in April 2010, also maps showing how the
ash clouds spread, plus dramatic
YouTube video of Eyjafjallajökull eruption.
Aircraft jet engines are at risk of damage should they pass through some of the high altitude ash clouds being blown over Europe, as a precaution the CAA (
Civil Aviation Authority) places restrictions in place grounding all aircraft across the United Kingdom;
UK CAA Volcano News Page.
Mallorca was not alone in the massive resultant problems, it was not long before Palma de Mallorca airport was closed. As no flights were able to depart to large areas of Europe including the UK, travellers were left trapped in the airport terminal buildings.
Many hotels appeared unsympathetic to their guests as they simply continued packing their tourist guests off onto the transfer coaches to vacate them from their rooms.
With no flights from Palma, ferries to the Barcelona on the Spanish mainland soon filled leaving no alternative transport to leave any of the Balearic Islands.
On Monday 19th, Tim Jeans (managing director of Monarch airlines) took the initative of sending a rescue to collect some stranded tourists from Palma and fly them to Madrid, then continue by coach to Calais and finally back to Manchester, for the full story click on this link to
Crains Manchester Business news article.
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Labels: Mallorca, Monarch, rescue, Tim Jeans, travel chaos, volcano
