As we reported on 19 April 2010, the eruption of
Iceland's Eyjafallökull volcano, and the resultant ash
cloud, caused the worst air traffic crisis in recent history, with
the cancellation of over 100,000 flights, affecting over 10 million
people. However, the ash cloud crisis appears to be far from over,
with further disruption caused by Iceland's Grimsvotn
volcano erupting in May 2011 and on the other side of the globe,
Chile's Cordon Caulle which erupted in June 2011 causing
chaos in Australian airspace. In fact, at the time of writing, yet
another Icelandic volcano, Hekla (known by locals as "the
gateway to Hell"), was also threatening to erupt...
So one year on, what has changed? Are the aviation industry and
its regulators better prepared for the next crisis? This article
examines the measures which have been implemented since last year
and looks at what further changes still need to be made.
