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• BBC
• Tue Apr 15 2025

For eight days in April 2010 UK and European airspace was closed or partially closed causing chaos to travellers around the world.

The Eyjafjallaj?kull volcano in Iceland explosively erupted on14 April sending a huge ash cloud into the atmosphere and the weather pattern directed it towards Europe.

Creating the worst disruption to air travel since World War Two, it put a spotlight on how unprepared the aviation industry was for the consequences of a volcanic eruption.

Fifteen years on procedures have changed but could we see turmoil like that again?

Heathrow airport closed for a day in late March after a fire at a nearby substation cut power and resulted in 1,300 cancelled flights, with thousands of passengers affected.

It feels hard to imagine now what it was like having eight days of airspace closure across the UK and Europe in 2010 with 300 airports closed, 100,000 flights cancelled, 10 million passengers unable to travel and a reported ?1.1 billion loss for the airline industry.