Iceland’s Bardarbunga Volcano has been making news all week as 1000s of minor earthquakes began rattling the region.   On Saturday, the volcano began to ‘officially’ erupt which has prompted Iceland to close a small part of the airspace near the volcano as a precaution.  Thus far, the closure has not affected air traffic.

The the closed airspace covers a 100 mile x 140 mile perimeter around the volcano.    Iceland also raised their aviation alert to “RED” indicated that they expect a significant eruption which will expel dangerous ash into the atmosphere.

If you recall, back in 2010, Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokul erupted which affected over 100,000 flights and millions of passengers.   That eruption also wreaked havoc with airline profits and aircraft.

If your near term travels involve flying the North Atlantic corridor, basically the route used by Airlines flying between the USA and Europe, you may want to start paying attention to this event and perhaps plan a contingency in the event of an eruption that cripples travel.

If the situation deteriorates, Airlines will begin to allow passengers to rebook or cancel their travel plans without assessing any fees or penalties.   I suspect that this event will play itself out in the next few days so be prepared!