Airspace reopens...
| 09:05 UK time, Tuesday, 20 April 2010
...Well some of it - if you're lucky. Here's an update and here's how authorities made the decision to . Here we're no better off. Has airspace reopened where you are?
If it has, don't get too excited just yet. Fresh ash is . Iceland's President calls the eruption
So what's the recent chaos taught us?
Philosopher Alain de Botton explains his vision of a . Those of you who have been enjoying the peace and quiet of a plane-free sky may well agree with what he has to say.
'In a future world without aeroplanes, children would gather at the feet of old men, and hear extraordinary tales of a mythic time when vast and complicated machines the size of several houses used to take to the skies and fly high over the Himalayas and the Tasman Sea. The wise elders would explain that inside the aircraft, passengers, who had only paid the price of a few books for the privilege, would impatiently and ungratefully shut their window blinds to the views, would sit in silence next to strangers while watching films about love and friendship - and would complain that the food in miniature plastic beakers before them was not quite as tasty as the sort they could prepare in their own kitchens.'
But witty response to Alain de Botton's take. He fears that a world without planes would descend into mayhem.
And see if you can get your head around what has to say on the ash,
'The wrath of the little volcano, inflamed by the immense and indecent arrogance of men......Silence, says the volcano, silence, I'm the one who is speaking now. Nobody move. Until further notice, your flying machines are no longer allowed in the sky. ...And a shiver goes through us all, at the idea of a force which extends beyond our will and suddenly dictates its own law.
That is the lesson of the volcano. Under the volcano, certainly not the beach, but the necessary patience of things. From the burning throat of the volcano, a message of humility and a call for moderation. Blessed be the volcano.'
agrees that we should be grateful to the volcano. There needs to be a 'more active reconnaisance of volcanoes' as this isn't the last time that Mother Earth is going to 'put us in our place.'
Have the events of recent days made you think twice about our dependence and attitude towards air travel? Is this in risk, technology, science and economics?
She certainly gave this stranded couple . Unable to get to the venue, they took their wedding vowes over the internet whilst the wedding guests partied on.
