You’ve all heard about the volcanic eruption in Iceland, and how it has affected air travel in Europe over the past few days. Chances are most of you will either have been directly affected by all the flight cancellations, or know someone who has. My sister and three-year old nephew had come to visit us here in Fredrikstad, Østfold, for what should have been a week-long holiday, and arrived the day before the Eyjafjallajokull volcano started spitting its troublesome smoke last Wednesday. They were due to travel back the day before yesterday.
Guess what? They’re still here, and will be until tomorrow – when they can then look forward to a three-hour coach journey to Gothenburg, Sweden, followed by a three-hour train journey to Copenhagen, Denmark, and then (the icing on the cake!) a 15-hour car journey back to Geneva, Switzerland. (My brother in law’s coming to get them in the Danish capital, so he will for his part have to undertake a 30-hour non-stop car journey over a two-day period). They’ll also have to fork out over 300 euros for the privilege (and yes, this was the cheapest option we came upon), which their insurance company will probably not cover.
Makes you realise how reliant on air travel we have all become. But that’s still a drop in the ocean compared to how much all this is costing the airlines themselves. After just one week of the widespread disruptions resulting from the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, some industry experts are already saying the impact on the airline industry will be worse than 9/11. Within a few days of the eruption over 300 airports were paralysed across Europe and by Sunday night more than 63,000 flights had been cancelled, report the air-safety agency Eurocontrol. Some airlines have lost over £20m per day (having to reimburse tickets on cancelled flights, but also accommodation and meals from stranded passengers in their thousands), and there are concerns that weaker airlines might be unable to last out the crisis. Not good.
But every cloud, even a big volcanic ash one covering almost all of Europe, has a silver lining. This incident has turned into a good PR exercise for Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s Prime Minister, it seems. Stoltenberg was stranded in New York City after the ash cloud closed European airports, during which time he governed his country with the help of his new iPad (trendy guy or what?), then had an epic trip back to Norway via Spain and Switzerland, including a long car journey (well, at least the embassy was picking up the bill for his!), during which he made good use of social media, tweeting his thoughts and engaging in a lively debate with his followers, as well as making new friends on facebook. The story was picked up by the British and US press, and some say this is the best PR for Norway since the Lillehammer Olympic Games. A slight exaggeration surely, but there’s no bad publicity, right?
Personally I can’t say I’ve had much time to catch up on the news, tweet, check my facebook account or do much else these past few days, as I’ve been busy entertaining a three-year-old little boy round the clock and trying to find alternative travel arrangement for my sister. But I read about the Jens Stoltenberg’s story on www.newsinenglish.no, a great resource for anyone wanting, well, Norwegian news in English… 
Thought it might be of interest to you too. Apologies for the long silence, I’ll resume updating this blog shortly. Well, as long as the Swedish rail workers don’t decide to go on strike tomorrow that is!