The ICAO EUR/NAT VOLCEX21 Preparation Workshop was held in Reykjavik, Iceland with hybrid capabilities from 5 to 6 October 2021. The purpose of this workshop was to prepare for a simulated volcano eruption of Eyjafjallajökull that will allow aviation stakeholders to test their response to the resulting simulated volcanic ash plume that will impact the EUR and NAT Regions. This exercise called VOLCEX21 will take place on 16 November 2021 from 0800 to 1600 UTC.
Ólafur Sigurjónsson from Forsæti – 21 May 2011
The workshop reviewed the status of volcanic activity in Iceland and potential future eruption scenarios. The workshop also reviewed the EUR/NAT Volcanic Ash Contingency Plan as well as recent updates to this plan. This history and use of volcanic ash concentration charts was also provided to the workshop. Details on the production of Danger Areas, NOTAM, SIGMET (including cross-border SIGMET coordination) and special air-reports on volcanic ash were provided as well as an update to the Safety Risk Assessment approach in the EUR Region. Other topics discussed included: relaxation of airspace restrictions, review of the draft VOLCEX21 Exercise Directive, improvements made to the EVITA tool, airport diversion capability information service, and the follow-on EACCC (European Aviation Crisis Coordination Cell)21 workshop.
The workshop noted that Spain will host the VOLCEX21 debrief and VOLCEX22 planning meetings as well as associated steering group meeting in Madrid sometime in the first few days of February 2022. These events will be in hybrid mode noting that the invitation letter is expected to be sent in November 2021.
The workshop was attended by 153 participants from 29 States, 14 Airlines and 5 International Organizations.
