The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland on 20 March 2010 affected the economic, political and cultural activities in Europe and across the world.
There was an extensive air travel disruption caused by the closure of airspace over many countries affecting the travel arrangements of hundreds of thousands of people in Europe and elsewhere. Sporting, entertainment and many other events were cancelled, delayed or disrupted when individuals or teams were unable to travel to their destination.
The state funeral of President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and his wife Maria Kaczyńska on 18 April 2010 was affected as some national leaders were unable to attend, including Barack Obama, Stephen Harper, Angela Merkel, and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Economic Impacts
Airline industry
Air travel and transport throughout the world was cancelled due to the airspace restrictions and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated the airline industry worldwide would lose £130 million ($200 million) a day as a result. IATA stated that the total loss for the airline industry was around US$1.7 billion (£1.1 billion, €1.3 billion). The Airport Operators Association (AOA) estimated that airports lost £80 million over the six-and-a-half days. Over 95,000 flights had been cancelled all across Europe during the six-day travel ban, with later figures suggesting 107,000 flights cancelled during an 8-day period, accounting for 48% of total air traffic and roughly 10 million passengers.
Following the travel disruption, EU ministers agreed to accelerate the integration of national air traffic control systems into the Single European Sky and also to the immediate creation of a crisis coordination group to handle future transport disruptions.
European economies Several sectors that depend on air-freighted imports and exports were badly affected by the flight disruptions.
Imports of medications were affected, and local stocks, as they expire.Ash disrupts deliveries to British shops, UPI.com, 17 April 2010/
Business people and officials expressed concerns about imports of fresh food and other essential goods into the United Kingdom."Volcanic ash cloud causes economic concern" BBC News, 18 April 2010
FedEx, DHL Express and other logistics companies were unable to transport goods by air."Volcano's eruption beginning to hurt Europe's economy" The Star, 17 April 2010 Instead they had to transport packages to alternate destination (such as Istanbul or Madrid) and then ship by road to the final destination.
Travel firm TUI Travel reported losses of per day during the airspace closure due to travellers being unable to return home."Volcano disruption costing TUI £5m a day" BBC News, 19 April 2010
The carmaker BMW said it was suspending production at three of its plants in Germany, because of interruptions in the supply of parts. As waylaid travellers scrambled for other modes of transport, ferry and railway companies enjoyed an unexpected bonanza, while some car-hire firms were reportedly hiking charges.
In the United Kingdom alone thirteen travel firms collapsed during the summer of 2010. The ash cloud disruption was cited as one of the contributing factors.Kiss Flights travel company ceases trading. Bbc.co.uk (18 August 2010). Retrieved on 6 May 2013.
African economies Kenya is reported to have destroyed 400 tonnes of flowers it was unable to airship into the UK on 19 and 20 April 2010. As a result, their economy was estimated to be incurring losses of $3.8m each day of the disruption."Iceland volcano cloud: The economic impact" BBC News, 19 April 2010 Thousands of Kenyan farm workers were temporarily laid off as harvesting of flowers and vegetables was stopped by 19 April due to the grounding of flights. The Kenya Flower Council said 3,000 tonnes of flowers were destroyed and the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya called the situation "disastrous".Volcanic flight ban hits Kenya farm workers BBC News, 19 April 2010
Zambia's flower and vegetable industry lost about $150,000 (£98,000) a day. Other African industries, such as Uganda's fish and flower export businesses, were also affected by the lack of air freight.
Asian economies Nissan declared a suspension in the production of three models in Japan on 21 April 2010 because supply of parts has been disrupted. It stopped production of 2,000 vehicles in two plants. Honda also announced a partial halt to production. Factories in China's Guangdong province saw air shipments of clothes and jewellery delayed. In South Korea, Samsung and LG were unable to air-freight more than 20% of their daily electronics exports and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries said hotels and restaurants in Hong Kong were facing shortages of European produce.
New Zealand economies The New Zealand fisheries economy was helped by the disruption caused to air transport in Europe. Difficulties in bringing fresh salmon to international markets normally supplied by Norway and other northern European states have substantially boosted orders for New Zealand salmon. Similarly the Netherlands is unable to supply orchids for the start of the May wedding market in North America.
Impact on politicians and royalty
Travel disruption
A number of world leaders and politicians had to postpone planned trips or were diverted and delayed due to the closure of airports and airspace: Prime Minister of Russia, Vladimir Putin postponed a trip to Murmansk on 15 April.Iceland volcano causes flight chaos Al Jazeera 15 April 2010 Norwegian prime minister Jens Stoltenberg was in New York City for a conference and was unable to return to Oslo on schedule. Stoltenberg and his entourage flew to Madrid on Friday, and then onto Basel, Switzerland. Unable to get a train from Basel, they travelled the rest of the way by car. The president of Portugal, Aníbal Cavaco Silva had to extend his state visit to the Czech Republic. The president made his way from Prague to Barcelona by car and then took a Falcon of the Portuguese Air Force home to Lisbon. President Silva arrived in Portugal on the evening of 18 April. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany was forced to make a "surprise" visit to Portugal as she returned from the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC. She was expected to return to Germany by 10am on Saturday, but has since then flown to Rome and is also expected to return home to Germany by car.Segundo dia de caos aéreo no Continente Europeu PAIS; Retrieved 16 April 2010 The ban on flights in the UK disrupted the UK general election campaign trail on 15 April. Liberal Democrat treasury spokesperson Vince Cable's visit to Dunfermline and West Fife was terminated, as was Labour Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth's journey to Scotland.McGivern, Mark Icelandic volcano could bring chaos to British skies for a YEAR Daily Record, 16 April 2010 Former British prime minister, Tony Blair, got stranded in Israel during his scheduled election campaign tour.Volcanic ash cloud: Tony Blair stranded in Israel, Daily Telegraph, 18 April 2010. Emir of Qatar Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani postponed an official two-day state visit to Germany, originally scheduled for 18–20 April. On 18 April, the Pakistani prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was forced to cancel his visit to France and a summit in Brussels. On 20 April, disruption to the Irish Government business occurred when nine government and six opposition members of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, were stranded at various destinations around the world. The Government passed one vote by a majority of two TDs that day, narrowly avoiding defeat.McGee, Harry (21 April 2010). "Government narrowly avoids Dáil vote defeat". The Irish Times.
Funeral of Lech and Maria Kaczyńska
The funeral of President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and his wife, who died on 10 April 2010 in a plane crash in Smolensk, Russia, took place on 18 April. Due to the disruptions in travel, several national leaders cancelled their plans to attend, including Barack Obama, Stephen Harper, Angela Merkel, and Nicolas Sarkozy.Boyes, Roger Funeral of Polish president Lech Kaczyński faces delay over ash cloud The Times, 16 April 2010 Presidential aide Jacek Sasin initially said a postponement until later that day or even the following day was a "very serious alternative", but it was later announced that the funeral would take place as planned. On 17 April, delegations from India, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and Pakistan confirmed they would not attend.Robin, Henry Poland marks minute of president's plane crash The Times, 17 April 2010 Obama released a statement on Saturday afternoon saying that he would not be able to attend the funeral due to the traffic disruptions. He stated, in a phone call to acting president Bronisław Komorowski, "Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our thoughts and prayers..."The President's Statement on Poland The White House; Retrieved 17 April 2010
Disruption to royal families The travel plans of members of European royal families from countries such as the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and Spain were cancelled they had intended to travel to Copenhagen to celebrate the 70th birthday of Margrethe II of Denmark. The Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish royal families changed their plans from air to car or rail.Volcanic eruption clouds Danish queen's birthday E-Taiwan News, 15 April 2010
The British royal family's travel plans were disrupted, including the cancellation of the Prince of Wales's attendance at the state funeral of the Polish president and first lady, and the Princess Royal's plan to visit Halifax, Nova Scotia for a Canadian Forces celebration, scheduled for 21 April."No Halifax visit for Princess Anne" CBC News, 20 April 2010
Military and civil impact The Forecasting Economic Support Group of ICAO's Committee on Aviation Environment Protection postponed a planned summit in Bern as North American and Scandinavian members would be unable to attend. It caused a huge economic failure.
The repatriation of five German Bundeswehr soldiers wounded in action on 15 April 2010 in Afghanistan had to be postponed due to the closing of the German airspace. The MEDEVAC plane carrying them from Termez Airbase was rerouted to Istanbul where they are to be treated pending further developments.Verletzte Soldaten müssen nach Istanbul fliegen FOCUS Online, 16 April 2010
On 20 April 2010, it was reported that around 160 Irish troops, mainly from Dublin and Dundalk and from the Eastern Brigade and due to return home on a chartered plane from a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, were stranded in the Balkans due to the travel disruption. They remained at Camp Clarke outside Pristina.Irish troops stranded in Balkans Irish Examiner, 20 April 2010Irish soldiers stranded by ash cloud The Belfast Telegraph, 20 April 2010
Cultural impacts
Art The disruption had effects on the arts worldwide, with many events subject to cancellations.Whitney Houston, John Cleese, Coachella, Opera & More: How The Volcanic Ash Has Affected Entertainment Huffington Post, 17 April 2010 Further, many delegations from the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 were forced to travel to Norway by boat.
One of the early widely reported incidents was the trouble of actor/comedian John Cleese, who spent 30,000 Norwegian kroner (roughly £3,300) on a taxi journey from Oslo to Brussels after his flight from Norway was cancelled.Cleese splashes out on taxi journey RTÉ, 16 April 2010 He had been appearing on Skavlan.Erskine, Carrole. Taxi For Cleese: Stranded Star's 30,000 Krone Fare Sky News, 16 April 2010 The 1,500 kilometre journey lasted around 15 hours, and Cleese passed through Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium during his journey.O'Brien, Tim Disruption forces Houston on to ferry and Cleese into cab The Irish Times, 17 April 2010