Icelandic Volcano Eruption Could It Affect Private Jet Hire?

Way below the largest glaciers in Iceland there are signs of volcanic activity, possibly the largest in 100 years. So how will that affect private jet hire?

Katla, which has a 6 mile crater, could cause flooding on a monumental scale as it melts the surface of the caldera and could send huge quantities of water flooding into the Atlantic Ocean.

There were in excess of 500 tremors around Katla in October of this year which would suggest that an eruption may happen sooner rather than later. The whole area has been monitored by scientists since July when they detected a small eruption. Even that small eruption caused large scale flooding, blocking some major routes and washing away a bridge.

Since the events in July many experts have said that another and much larger eruption could happen at any time. Katla is an active volcano and has a long history of large eruptions. What we will see is the earth being ripped apart as volcanic ash is released into the atmosphere.

Iceland has fantastic records of volcanic activity going back 1,000 years. The last big eruption of Katla was in 1918 where large scale flooding sent icebergs crashing into the sea. In 1755 the amount of water released equalled the total amount of water in rivers throughout the world.

Katla normally erupts between 40 to 80 years which would suggest that an eruption is long overdue. The last time it erupted, there was no way to record seismic activity that led up to the eruption.

In 1783 volcanoes including Katla erupted for over 8 months releasing ash, sulphur dioxide and hydrogen fluoride that it killed over half of Iceland’s livestock and around a fifth of the country’s population. The eruptions actually changed the planets climate. Sulphuric acid acted as a reflective surface blocking the sun and cooled the earth causing famine around the globe.

Volcanoes are difficult to predict. Like a person they can change their personalities and change their behaviour over time. Scientists have had concerns about Katla for some time.

Iceland isn’t the only country with volcanoes. El Hierro in the Canary Islands which is an underwater volcano that is creating new land.

The last two eruptions in Iceland were Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 and Grimsvotn in 2011. Eyjafjallajokull brought air traffic in Europe to a standstill. It was a relatively small eruption but other external factors such as weather made it disruptive. When Grimsvotn erupted it was much larger but the ash fell out quite quickly with less disruption.

So it is too early to say what effect an eruption will have on aircraft movements. Commercial airlines were affected harder than the private jet hire market due to the fact that private jets have the option to fly above the ash cloud.

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