20.04.2010

Air traffic restrictions to remain until 9.00 a.m. tomorrow morning

According to information gained on the basis of forecasts, air traffic restrictions will remain for the time being until 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning, 21 April 2010.

Flow models from the Finnish Meteorological Institute and VAAC, the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre of the UK’s Met Office, have been used in the airspace analyses. The European model based on data from the Finnish Meteorological Institute has been recognised for several years as the best in Europe. In addition to the above, the introduction of the restrictions has used observation data and reports from test flights.

The Transport Safety Agency Trafi and the Finnish Meteorological Institute studied various models and the reliability of their forecasts, and tried to establish the best forecast model for Finnish conditions in order to guarantee safe air traffic in Finnish airspace and at the airports.

According to the available information, the occurrence of ash is increasing in Finnish airspace below 900 metres, and with respect to this the Transport Safety Agency is considering possible traffic restrictions for flights operated under visual flight rules that are currently allowed. These flights in practice are general aviation flights, such as flights by enthusiasts and training flights. However, the opening of the upper airspace to international overflights above the occurrence of the ash is being considered based on forecast models.

Information will be communicated on the situation and any changes to the restrictions during the course of the day.

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