.
Our skies have been silent and empty of aircraft since Thursday and much of European airspace is set to be closed for a day or two more, maybe longer. Meantime, trains, coach and car hire companies along with ferries are all reporting increased business.
Some experts say that this Icelandic volcanic dust cloud, even now leaving slight deposits of ash over our houses and cars, may last for some time to come and that we must adapt to life without aircraft in the meantime. That comes as no comfort to those who are stranded hundreds or even thousands of miles away or who need to travel for urgent medical or other reasons.
We have not been without aircraft for many years, and those wanting to move around the world did so by ship or by travelling overland where that was possible. The current situation reminds us of those days.
The problem is that ‘those days’ were entirely geared up to life without planes, and ships regularly travelled to the major coastal cities around the world on set schedules. There were more ferry services also in ‘those days’ and many of these have since been scrapped. Maybe there were also fewer border controls enabling easier travel across borders than at present.
The truth is that we are not in a position to manage without aircraft these days and the current situation is a harsh reminder that we are all subject to the whims of Nature.
How long this particular whim will last remains to be seen. In the meantime, we may have to do without many of the things we have become accustomed to that have hitherto been ferried into Britain by air.
Meantime, our skies remain pleasantly, but inconveniently, silent.
.
Our skies have been silent and empty of aircraft since Thursday and much of European airspace is set to be closed for a day or two more, maybe longer. Meantime, trains, coach and car hire companies along with ferries are all reporting increased business.
Some experts say that this Icelandic volcanic dust cloud, even now leaving slight deposits of ash over our houses and cars, may last for some time to come and that we must adapt to life without aircraft in the meantime. That comes as no comfort to those who are stranded hundreds or even thousands of miles away or who need to travel for urgent medical or other reasons.
We have not been without aircraft for many years, and those wanting to move around the world did so by ship or by travelling overland where that was possible. The current situation reminds us of those days.
The problem is that ‘those days’ were entirely geared up to life without planes, and ships regularly travelled to the major coastal cities around the world on set schedules. There were more ferry services also in ‘those days’ and many of these have since been scrapped. Maybe there were also fewer border controls enabling easier travel across borders than at present.
The truth is that we are not in a position to manage without aircraft these days and the current situation is a harsh reminder that we are all subject to the whims of Nature.
How long this particular whim will last remains to be seen. In the meantime, we may have to do without many of the things we have become accustomed to that have hitherto been ferried into Britain by air.
Meantime, our skies remain pleasantly, but inconveniently, silent.
.
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