Up in the air

[Claude]

As can be seen here, there are still areas pretty devoid of planes in northern Europe...

[VegasNath]

That is quite frightening to watch! Especially when a refresh happens and all the planes disappear.

[HansV]

I think daytime flights have resumed all over Europe, but some countries may not allow airplanes to take off or land during the night.

[Hey Jude]

As can be seen here, there are still areas pretty devoid of planes in northern Europe...

I've used other flight tracking sites before, but this one is great! Puts it all into perspective indeed.

[Bowlie]

Hi

The 'challenge' with this site and the similar http://www.radarvirtuel.com/ is that they pick up the data from the ADS-B broadcasts. That's only about 60% of commercial flights, few private flights and almost no state/military flights.

However they do give you a good idea of what is happening, and what is not. Eurocontol says we had an 'almost' normal day and in/out of Geneva we had only a small handful of cancellations - mostly the UK, but a couple to Finland as well. That ash is still out there and thick concentrations need to be avoided.

The challenge we now have is getting the stranded passengers home. Some estimates are that it will take 4 days, for each of the 6 days of closure, to clear the backlog. That takes us well into May - but it also assumes that passengers stay where they are - which is not the case for 'short-haul' trips.

The industry has asked for help from governments, by waiving curfews and relaxing crew duty hours so we can fly the fleet more often. Of course we are up against Nimbys and, in the case of the UK, an election.