Air Traffic Authorities Shut Northern Bulgaria Space

The maps distributed by Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry show that by 3 am Sunday the ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland can reach northern Bulgaria (bottom left).

All air traffic over northern Bulgaria will be shut down at midnight Saturday, the Transport Ministry and the Air Traffic Directorate report in a press release to the media.

The decision is triggered by an ash cloud drifting from northwestern Europe towards the southern and eastern parts of the continent prompting countries to close their air space one after another. The ash - a mixture of glass, sand and rock particles could be catastrophic to aircraft.

The space north from the mountain chain Stara Planina will not be serviced by aircraft on April 18, including the airports in the Black Sea capital Varna and the central town of Gorna Oryahovitsa. This is the space north of the 43rd parallel while the ban will last at least 12 hours.

The airports in the capital Sofia, the second largest city of Plovdiv, and the other Black Sea city of Burgas are to remain open but authorities point out that they are monitoring the situation closely and the movement of the ash cloud and might decide to stop all flights.

All neighboring countries have been notified about the decision.

The Transport Ministry published on their website forecast maps showing that by 9 pm Saturday the cloud will reach the country’s northern border and by 3 am Sunday the ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland can reach northern Bulgaria.

Most flights to and from Sofia were canceled Saturday. The only flights that took off from Sofia on Saturday are to Madrid, Rome, Athens, and Moscow. The flights Sofia-Barcelona at 4:50 pm and Sofia-Valencia at 5:00 have not been canceled and took off as scheduled. The same goes for the two Bulgaria Air charter flights to Cairo, Egypt, scheduled to take off at 17:30 and 17:40.

Only 5 flights landed in Sofia Saturday – from Athens, Varna, Moscow, Madrid and Rome.

The world-wide disruptions began Wednesday when the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano erupted for the second time in a month and will continue for certain at least through the entire weekend while Airlines are losing USD 200 M a day.

By the end of the day Saturday, under the condition winds maintain their current direction and strength, the cloud can reach the French-Spanish border, Corsica and northern Greece, the UK meteorological services report.

Bulgaria receives updates from London every 6 hours.

It is further reported that Romania, Macedonia, Monte Negro, Slovenia and Croatia have already closed their air space.

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