Iceland volcano 2024: Is it safe to travel and is the eruption affecting flights?

03.06.2024 - 08:47 / euronews.com / Rebecca Ann Hughes

A volcano in Iceland has erupted for the fifth time in three months.

Lava can be seen spilling from the Sundhnúkur crater row. It began in the early afternoon today, 29 May, and it is ongoing.

Visitors have been evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions, and it remains closed.

The eruption site is a few kilometres northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people about 50 kilometres southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. Grindavik has been evacuated and the roads around it are closed.

Despite lying just 20 km north of the eruption site, Keflavik International Airport - Iceland's main international airport - remains open and flights are still arriving and departing. However the airport advised passengers to "monitor flight information".

If you are planning on travelling to or from the affected area, here are the full details on advice from European governments and airlines.

Iceland’s Meteorological Office says "Intense seismic activity is ongoing on the Sundhnúkur crater row.

A magma propagation might be starting or has started, and a volcanic eruption could follow."

The Met Office says lava is shooting about 50 metres into the sky from a fissure about 3.5 kilometres long.

The Grindavik community was previously evacuated in November following a series of earthquakes that opened large cracks in the earth between the town and Sýlingarfell, a small mountain to the north.

Before the recent eruptions, the Svartsengi volcanic system north of Grindavik had been dormant for around 780 years. The volcano is just a few kilometres west of Fagradalsfjall, which was dormant for 6,000 years before flaring to life in March 2021.

During a recent eruption, Icelandic authorities declared a state of emergency after hundreds of small earthquakes shook the Reykjanes Peninsula - the island nation’s most populated region.

“This is not a tourist attraction and you must watch it from a great distance," Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management, told national broadcaster RUV.

Yet the spectacular natural phenomenon is hard for people to resist. “It’s just [like] something from a movie!” said Robert Donald Forrester III, a tourist from the United States.

For local residents, the emotions were mixed. “The town involved might end up under the lava,” said Ael Kermarec, a French tour guide living in Iceland. "It’s amazing to see but, there's kind of a bittersweet feeling at the moment.”

Despite concerns over the impact the eruption will have on travel, nearby Keflavik Airport remains operational. Icelandic airport operator ISAVIA advises passengers to monitor flight information here.

Volcanic eruptions can pose a serious hazard to air travel as ash released into