I was afraid that the eruption of the Icelandic volcano that sent ash over a wide swath of Europe and grounded flights would eventually make an impact on Route 66 tourism, and it has.
Ellie Alexander, tourism director for the City of Pontiac, Ill., told me by e-mail that several European travelers had to cancel road trips on Route 66 this past week, including a tour group from Great Britain. The British group was supposed to be in Pontiac on Wednesday; it has rescheduled its journey for next year.
Foreign travelers make up a substantial portion of Route 66 tourism. Pontiac is the home of the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum, and has become a Mother Road must-stop in the Land of Lincoln.
It was hoped that some flights in Europe would resume tomorrow, but that’s already looking iffy, according to CTV.
But mere hours after European officials devised a plan to get more planes off the ground Tuesday, British officials warned that the volcano’s eruption has strengthened, sending even more ash toward Britain.
The British National Air Traffic Service announced Monday night that while airspace over Scotland will reopen Tuesday morning, it is unclear how much of England’s may reopen. The service said should English airspace open Tuesday afternoon as planned, it may not extend to London.
In case you’re wondering, the reason the volcanic ash is causing such problems isn’t just reducing visibility. The ash can be sucked into airplane engines and cause them to seize up in mid-air.
So … there’s not much to do except wait for the volcano’s activity to ebb. And there’s no telling when that will happen.
Well, there’s always the Love Boat! (And carry-on’s are free!)
They’re definitely noticing elsewhere on 66 – I was in Seligman today, & they’re thinking there might be 2 weeks of reduced visitation/commerce coming up in the next couple weeks on 66.
Yep – it’s a bummer, we’ve had a few cancel here in Tucumcari too, let’s hope it doesn’t go on for too long, or we might be looking at a tourist recession, as quite a few of ours come from Europe this time of year, most especially the U.K.! Get that jetstream a movin…
There have been some posative stories about strangers helping stranded tourists. There are also some foreign travellers extending their journey. Overall it is a hardship for most tourists and I am sure that the Route 66 community will assist them when possible.
correct “posative” to “positive”