Iceland Volcano Brings Bulgaria Air Traffic to Standstill

Stranded passengers on temporary beds at Frankfurt am Main International airport in Germany Friday. Photo by BGNES

Most of the flights to and from Sofia Airport are canceled Friday over the drifting ash ejected from a volcano in Iceland, the airport Director, Plamen Stanchev, informs.

Flights to and from London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Dortmund, Zurich and Paris are canceled and the annulment of flights to Frankfurt and Milan is also pending, Stanchev says, adding the passengers have been very patient and orderly while international airlines have been extremely organized and there are no long lines at counters.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers are affected and severe disruptions could extend to many days to come, including flights to North America and Asia over the volcano’s continuous ejection of ash and smoke while scientist say they do not expect the volcanic activity to end in the next few days. The ash cloud is moving 500 meters above ground and is expected to reach Moscow at some point Friday. It will pass over Bucharest Friday afternoon, but it should not go over Bulgaria.

The forecast, however, is subject to change, according to the airport Director, and flights will continue to be delayed and canceled as long as the volcano is active and until the cloud dissipates.

According to Stanchev, the strong wind and the heavy rain can help in the latter, but it is possible for the predicted 6-month volcano activity to bring air traffic to a standstill for the entire period.

Passengers, who decide to not reschedule the canceled flights, will be reimbursed.

Stanchev advises all travelers, for whose flights a decision is yet to be made, to arrive at the airport about an hour and a half before the scheduled flight time.

Information about delays and cancellations can be obtained at the airport, on the phone and through the airport webpage.

Flights to and from the other two major Bulgarian airports – in the Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas have also been cancelled Friday.

Meanwhile, the Russian information agency ITAR-TASS reports the cloud had reached the northwestern part of Russia, in the area of Murmansk.

Following the closure of airspace and airports in more than 8 EU counties including Ireland, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, due the volcanic eruption in Iceland, the European Commission Vice President and Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, said that even in exceptional circumstances EU passenger rights continue to apply and air travelers should speak up to claim their rights.

The EU passenger rights that apply in this situation are: the right to receive information from airlines (e.g. on your rights, on the situation as it evolves, cancellations and length of delays: the right to care (refreshments, meals, accommodation as appropriate); the right to chose between reimbursement of fares or be re-routed to final destination

In an exceptional circumstance such as this, passengers are not however entitled to additional financial compensation that would be the case where delays or cancellations are the fault of the airline.

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