GRIMSVÖTN ERUPTION : ICAO VOLCANIC ASH
CONTINGENCY PLAN FOR THE ICAO
EUROPEAN AND NORTH ATLANTIC REGIONS IS CURRENTLY IN OPERATION
Paris (France), 23 May 2011 – Following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland in
April/May 2010 which resulted, for safety reasons, in considerable disruption of air traffic in Europe and
beyond, member States of the ICAO European and North Atlantic Planning and Implementation Regional
Groups approved a comprehensive revision to a common document called Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan
for the EUR and NAT Regions aimed at streamlining coordination among aviation stakeholders in the cited
areas.
The aforementioned Plan is valid and presently being operationally implemented by States in the EUR and
NAT Regions in order to manage a new Icelandic eruption (Grimsvötn volcano) which began on Saturday
evening forcing the Icelandic authorities to close the country’s main airports and restrict flights over the
island.
The ICAO Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan for the EUR and NAT Regions can be downloaded by following
this link: EUR DOC019 and NAT Doc006, Part II.
As widely recognized, especially following the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010, which
forced authorities to close almost 80% of European airspace during the Easter holiday, volcanic ash poses
a hazard to safe and efficient flight operations. As stated by the Plan, Regulatory authorities of State of
the Operator (or State of Registry as appropriate), should prescribe appropriate operational procedures for
flight crew to be followed in case of operation in or near airspaces that are contaminated by volcanic ash.
Operators are required, in accordance with ICAO Annex 6 to the Convention on International Civil
Aviation, to assess the risk of operation in volcanic ash and to implement the appropriate mitigation
measures in accordance with their Safety Management System as approved by the State of the
Operator/Registry.
Among other provisions, the Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan for the EUR and NAT Region identifies three
standardized definitions of ash contamination (Low/Medium/High) enabling:
Provider States to rely on a common, agreed reference to be used when defining Danger Areas,
including which areas of contamination are included therein, at their discretion over their
territories;
States of the Operators to impose additional safety risk assessment and mitigation measures to
Operators under their jurisdiction willing to fly through such areas of contamination (where
permitted);
Air Navigation Service Providers, Meteorological Watch Offices, Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers and
Air Traffic Flow Management Units to realign their operational and communication procedures also
in line with this three-layer approach.
It has to be made clear that, as highlighted by the Plan, “the suggested procedures are not intended to
establish or confirm a safe level of ash concentration. Values have been agreed to depict an area of ash
concentration as low, medium or high. Operation through any area where volcanic ash is forecast is at the
discretion of the operator”.
Like all safety provisions published by ICAO, the guidance material on volcanic ash contingency made
available by the ICAO EUR/NAT Office (and approved by its member States) does not interfere with
States’ sovereignty and their decision, on a case to case basis, to close or not to close their airspace or
deviate the traffic flows due to volcanic ash contamination.
The ICAO Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan for the EUR and NAT Regions addresses Air Traffic Management
contingency procedures to streamline operations throughout three identified phases: Alerting, Reactive
and Proactive phases.
The Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan for the EUR and NAT Regions was revised by the ICAO EUR/NAT
Volcanic Ash Task Force in June 2010 and latterly by the EUR Meteorology Group in September 2010, and
consequently approved by member States of the European Air Navigation Planning Group (EANPG) and
the North Atlantic Systems Planning Group (NAT SPG), namely 52 States in the EUR Region plus Iceland,
the United States and Canada.
The ICAO EUR/NAT Volcanic Ash Task Force was attended by more than 50 participants from States in the
EUR/NAT Region, the European Commission, the scientific community and industry organizations
representing airlines, air navigation services providers, pilots and engine manufacturers. The ICAO
EUR/NAT Volcanic Ash Task Force was dissolved in June 2010 at the conclusion of its activities, whilst the
EUR/NAT Volcanic Ash Exercises Steering Group has continued to conduct regional volcanic ash exercises
simulating eruptions of selected volcanoes in Iceland, Italy and the Azores (Portugal) on a rotational basis
– at least one exercise per year.
The most recent volcanic ash exercise in the EUR/NAT Region was conducted in on 13 an 14 April 2011,
where the EUR/NAT Volcanic Ash Exercises Steering Group organized a simulated eruption of the
Grimsvötn volcano.