The fissure eruption found in the area of Holuhraun, which is estimated to measure at 1 km, made the Icelandic Met Office increase the warning alert for aviation to red which is the highest warning level. However, Iceland's Met office have finally lowered the alert level to orange.
The volcanic rumblings at Bardarbunga, which is cloaked with glacier that is hundreds of meters thick, have made the people worried of an upcoming eruption. When that happens, it would definitely bring trouble for air travel. Back in 2010, the Eyjafjallajokull volcano spewed a cloud of ash which had closed most of Europe's airspace for a period of six days.
Bardarbunga, one of Iceland's largest volcanoes, began rumbling two weeks ago. It lies under Vatnajokull, the biggest ice cap in Europe. The volcano had been rocked by several earthquakes which resulted to massive road closures and evacuations. For almost a week now, the area has been experiencing heightened seismic activity.
"No volcanic ash has been detected with the radar system at the moment... Seismic eruption tremor is low indicating effusive eruption without significant explosive activity," said Iceland's National Crisis Coordination Center.
The red warning alert means an eruption is about to occur and that it poses the risk of bringing a cloud of ash. Orange alerts, on the other hand, are not as serious.
Bjorn Oddsson, a geophysicist from the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management of Iceland, said that air travel was currently not affected by the eruption. He noted the absence of ash in the air and in the vicinity. The only thing that's pouring out of the craters is lava and flight restriction is applicable only over the area. All airports remain open and everything seemed to be in control.
Richard Westcott, BBC transport correspondent says that even if the volcano emitted a big cloud of ash, it would lead to the same level of flight disruption which brought Europe's aviation system to a halt in 2010.
Airlines such as British Airways, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and EasyJet Plc said that they're operating their timetables like normal while they keep the situation monitored. The airports in Iceland are still open according to air traffic controller Isavia.
"We are keeping the situation in Iceland under close observation," says British Airways, the no. 3 carrier in Europe and the U.K. unit of International Consolidated Airlines Group SA. "At present all of our flights are operating normally."
