The aviation industry has today been warned about potential flight disruptions due to powerful seismic activity recorded at Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano in the past three days. The Met Office recorded the earthquake as the strongest in the region since 1996 and upgraded the status to orange – the fourth level out of five.

During the 2010 volcanic ash disruption the European Union shut down airspace despite widespread protests from airlines, resulting in thousands of holidaymakers unable to go on holiday or left stranded in a foreign location.

Whilst airlines are legally required to cover cancelled flights from and to EU regions, further costs such as extended hotel stays, while theoretically covered, are often disputed by airlines after major travel disruptions. If you don’t make it to your destination at all, then the airlines are not required to compensate you for the unused accommodation.

Greg Lawson, head of retail at Columbus Direct, commented, “Following the major disruptions experienced in 2010 due to the volcanic ash cloud, travellers are today more aware of the need for cancellation and delay protection. However, many policies do not include cover for delay or cancellation due to an ash cloud, although some will allow customers to top up their policy to protect against the costs incurred. This underscores the importance of travellers being fully aware of policy terms in addition to price when selecting travel coverage and focus on the quality and features of a policy that are important and relevant to them.”

David Johnson, group director of operations at medical and travel security services company. International SOS, said they are closely monitoring the Icelandic tremors.

"At this point it is too early to tell what will develop," Johnson said, "however, should it become an event that impact flights in a similar manner to the 2010 ash cloud, we would work closely with our clients to mitigate any associated travel risks or disruption to travellers, ”

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