Ash Threat Shuts London Air Hubs

周一，Eyjafjoll附近被火山灰笼罩

Iceland's volcanic ash cloud will shut London's key transport hubs on Monday after closing airports in the northern U.K. on Sunday, Britain's air-navigation controller NATS said.
英国空中导航管理机构英国国家航空交通服务局(NATS)说，冰岛的火山灰将导致伦敦主要机场周一关闭，此前火山灰已经造成英国北部地区的多个机场周日关闭。

The closure could start a very bad week for U.K. air travelers. A five-day strike of British Airways PLC cabin crew is expected to start Tuesday.
机场的关闭对英国航空旅客来说将可能意味着极其糟糕的一周的开始。预计英国航空公司(British Airways PLC)乘务人员将从周二开始为期五天的罢工。

On Sunday, a no-fly zone was enforced in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England after an ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull (ay-yah-FYAH'-tlah-yer-kuh-duhl) volcano drifted into U.K. airspace. The main transport hubs in southern England, such as Heathrow and Gatwick, were to close through Monday morning.
冰岛埃亚菲亚德拉(Eyjafjallajokull)火山喷出的火山灰飘散到英国上空后，苏格兰、北爱尔兰和英格兰北部地区周日设立了禁飞区。包括希思罗(Heathrow)机场和盖特威克(Gatwick)机场在内的英格兰南部主要机场将一直维持关闭状态，直到周一早间。

Heathrow is the world's busiest international hub, with more than 90 airlines flying through it. Any closure there would significantly increase the operational and financial damage from the most recent ash clouds.
希思罗是全球最繁忙的国际机场，有90多个航空公司的飞机起落该机场。机场的关闭将严重增大最近火山灰带来的运营和经济损失。

A spokesman for the Met Office, the U.K. weather service, said midterm forecasts were much 'kinder.' Southwest winds should move the ash cloud away from the U.K., and by midday Tuesday U.K. airspace should be completely clear of ash, he said. Charts from the Met Office show the ash cloud covering much of the U.K. -- including southern England -- on Monday. Some airports in Ireland are also hit.
英国气象局(Met Office)发言人说，中期预报更为“温和”。他说，西南风应该能把火山灰吹离英国，周二午间前，英国上空应会完全没有火山灰。英国气象局的图表显示，周一火山灰笼罩了英国大部分地区，包括英国南部。爱尔兰的一些机场也受到了影响。

The presence of the ash cloud doesn't necessarily mean planes will be grounded. Before implementing no-fly zones, the Civil Aviation Authority takes a number of factors into consideration, such as the density of the ash and its height.
火山灰的存在并不一定意味着航班要停飞。在实施禁飞区之前，英国民航局(Civil Aviation Authority)通常会考虑各种因素，比如火山灰的密度和高度。

The ash cloud forced the closure of airports in southern Europe earlier this month after causing huge disruptions to European air travel in April.
4月份，火山灰曾造成欧洲航空交通大规模中断。本月早些时候，又迫使欧洲南部地区的多个机场关闭。

The ash's dispersal on Tuesday would be just in time for travelers to be hit by the British Airways strike, which remains a threat, although negotiations will continue on Monday. The company and the Unite union will hold separate talks with new Transport Secretary Phil Hammond on Monday.
周二火山灰的散去对将受到英国航空公司罢工影响的旅客来说很及时。罢工仍有可能进行，不过周一谈判将继续。英国航空公司和Unite工会周一将分别与新任交通大臣哈蒙德(Phil Hammond)举行会谈。

The company will also seek a High Court injunction to stop the strike on the grounds that the union hasn't complied with some technical procedures that are required by law before a strike can take place.
英国航空公司还将争取获得最高法院的强制令，以工会没有遵守法律规定的罢工前一些技术程序为由要求其停止罢工。