Passengers faced the prospect of confusion and delay this morning as the Icelandic volcano threw thousands of people’s flight plans into chaos. Eamon Brennan, the Irish Aviation Authority chief executive, said even though emissions from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano have been low during recent days, a north-easterly wind had pushed the plume over Ireland and the Scottish Isles, forcing the closure of airports. Iceland’s meteorological office said a change of wind direction in the past few days had sent the ash cloud south and south-east toward Europe, rather than northward. The ash is forecast to exceed the safe level agreed by the Civil Aviation Authority and airlines in the wake of the six-day shutdown in April. ‘Ireland falls within the predicted area of ash concentrations that exceed acceptable engine manufacturer tolerance levels,’ the IAA said in a statement. Based on the new regime imposed in Europe last month, officials had no choice but to impose a no-fly zone and a 60-mile buffer zone, which would effectively close Shannon and Dublin airports. The two major Irish-based airlines, Ryanair and Aer Lingus, announced more than 200 flight cancellations and said they doubted if any Irish services would resume before […]