Just as uncertainty is making many Americans consider vacations closer to home and without a transatlantic flight, European travelers are using trains, bus, ferries and cars more since the volcanic air event of this past month.
The volcano fun and games aren’t abating. We are only learning about how much ash planes can take until they begin to fall out of the sky.
According to the Icelandic Met Office, there are “no indications” that the eruption is about to end. The Institute of Earth Sciences at Iceland University joined them in a joint statement on their websites.
So, we now have it officially: Nature is unpredictable.
In the face of the new world of volcanic ash and the unpredictable closure of airspace in Europe, travelers there are making changes. They are traveling by alternative means of transportation more than before the arrival of the volcanic ash cloud.
Virgin Trains is reporting increased demand on its London-Scotland route, Channel Tunnel rail company Eurostar says summer sales are higher and ferry operators Stena Line and Irish Continental Group Plc reckon recent gains in bookings are more than a blip.
For Europeans, there are good alternatives to air travel. Trains are plentiful and frequent. The super highway network is extensive even if it is plagues by high gas prices and expensive tolls. Ferries still ply the waters between Britain and France and Spain as well as between the Scandinavian countries.
Interestingly, the biggest surge in ferry passengers has been between Britain and Ireland. Many forget how easy and inexpensive it has become now to fly between Ireland and Britain. Easy Jet and Ryanair have changed the transportation world with their frequent connections. However, with Ireland facing some of the worst of airspace closures, alternatives are even more important.
The big question: Will these changes be permanent?
Will passengers decide that trains have enough speed within countries to keep passengers from choosing flying from London to Edinburgh or Paris to Marseilles or Rome to Milan? Will passengers decide that savings on airline baggage charges make train and boat travel more palatable? Will certainty trump uncertainty?
Charlie Leocha is the President of Travelers United. He has been working in Washington, DC, for the past 14 years with Congress, the Department of Transportation, and industry stakeholders on travel issues. He was the first consumer representative to the Advisory Committee for Aviation Consumer Protections appointed by the Secretary of Transportation from 2012 through 2018.
