While the aftermath of last week’s volcanic eruption in Iceland is now reaching Newfoundland’s airspace, the Thunder Bay Airport Authority isn’t worried about the ash that’s grounded most European flights reaching Northwestern Ontario.
Manager of business development Ed Schmidtke said he thinks it will dissipate before reaching the city and the airport’s flights will continue as scheduled. However, there aren’t many airports globally unaffected by the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull.
"There are many people trying to get to or from Europe, back home or out to business," he said. "There are a number of stories in the community that way, but our air traffic isn’t affected by it."
While Mytravel Thunder Bay Travel’s general manager Katie Zuber has received calls from a few people stranded in Europe, she said luckily they don’t have too many people away right now.
"There’s not a heck a of a lot we can do for them other than try to reroute them but basically if there’s no planes going, you can’t go anywhere," she said. "Everybody’s going to have to sit tight."
Fortunately April isn’t a high season for travellers heading to beach destinations or to Europe because weather conditions aren’t ideal. The main reason people still travel to Europe at this time of year is to visit family.
"People right now are booking and inquiring about travel to Europe but they’re not necessarily travelling a lot," Zuber said. "We’ll see a little more happening in May and much more in June."
If this happened during high season, Zuber said it would be a much bigger issue and there isn’t much they could do for travellers.
"We’ve been dealing with so many disasters," she said. "You have to take it as it comes … there’s nothing you can do in a case of anything like this. It’s an act of God."
But people shouldn’t be afraid to travel, she added, noting you have to be adventurous and do your thing without the fear that something might happen.
It’s tough; it’s an inconvenience for sure," said Zuber. "That’s all part of the travel experience. You’ve got to be patient and expect things to happen. Expect delays to happen. Even on a regular, normal day, flights can be delayed and then there’s earthquakes and volcanoes."
It is unlikely that the volcano will have any impact on Eastern Canada outside of air travel to Europe. The ash cloud diminished greatly Monday and data that suggests there is no significant ash in the atmosphere east of Newfoundland.
