Volcano in Iceland brings Hamburg Airport to a halt

This explosion of the volcano Eyafjallajökull in Iceland is responsible for the closed-down airspace in Northern Europe. (Photo Wikimedia Commons)

A volcano that erupted earlier in the week in Iceland has been causing chaos in the airspace of northern Europe. The volcanic ash that was dispersed into the air is at the exact altitude at which airliners usually fly. For planes, volcanic ash is one of the greatest dangers, because the ash is nothing but fine dust that can damage engines and wreak havoc on the instruments because it is magnetic.

As the cloud of ash wandered slowly from Iceland over UK territory to mainland northern and central Europe, airports in these places decided to interrupt their services. What started in yesterday’s early morning hours in northern Britain, namely the closure of all airports, reached Hamburg by early evening. Unlike in the UK, the federal government of Germany decided to partly close the airspace in the affected cities – which means commercial aircraft are not allowed to take off or land.

In the evening, all airports in northern Germany were closed, from Bremen to Hamburg over Hanover and Rostock. Hundreds of passengers were affected and had to either look for alternative transportation methods or simply wait.

No Guantanamo Detainees in Hamburg?

Detainees in Guantanamo Bay in 2002. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Last weekend the Bild newspaper broke the story that two detainees from Guantanamo could be coming to Hamburg. In response to the coverage, many people reacted unfavorably to the plan. It has since emerged that the German government is only considering such a move, and that to get Hamburg to house detainees the Federal Interior Minister has to ask the city first.

The Senate (city govt.), meanwhile, has confirmed that there has been no request from the Interior Ministry and so the city is not going to comment further on that matter at this time. Hamburg’s northern neighbour state, Schleswig Holstein, has not received a request either, but has said that it would consider all options.