There have been times in the past few days I was struggling to believe I was awake and not trapped in some bizarre nightmare. 

A volcano 1,000 miles away in Iceland is apparently pumping out ash to over 30,000ft and that means the aviation industry in northern Europe, UK included, is closed. Sorry, are you kidding? 

As the first hints that this could be just the beginning of a prolonged problem began to seep out, one question was fundamental
– how long would the flight ban last? 

Suddenly we were all amateur volcanologists, swapping facts like the last eruption of Eyjafjallajokull (urgently needs a new name) went on for two years or how an even bigger volcano could be triggered. 

The problem is a nasty blend: erupting lava in contact with a glacier creating super-heated steam and fine ash, plus high winds blowing it all towards us. In effect, a cruel conspiracy of the four elements earth, air, fire and water. 

The ash might well not be poisonous to people but for aviation, outbound leisure and related industries it is toxic. 

The risk to jet engines became a cruel metaphor – total power failure. Countless businesses suddenly faced with cut revenue, racing costs and the ground coming up fast. Given that, I was surprised by the relative calm with which stock markets, politicians and the general public (other than those actually impacted) seemed to react. 

In contrast, tour operators, agents and airlines had the weekend from hell. Hats off to the front line staff in all companies who have to deal with these dramas time after time. Medals warranted all round. 

I’d award less medals to the officials across Europe caught napping. It was not until Sunday when enough heavyweight companies began to put pressure on that the politicians seemed to engage. They belatedly began to recognise no flying might cause serious problems. 

The slow, ponderous and ineffective response of government so far shows all too clearly how little they understand the scale or nature of our industry. 

Moreover, is it acceptable that there seems to have been zero preparation or planning for such a natural phenomenon?
At the time of writing, the ash plume is falling and hopes are rising. 

Only time will tell if this week of chaos will mark the beginning of a new, more difficult era for aviation in Europe, or, go down as the biggest over-reaction by international governments of all time.  

Kane Pirie is managing director of Travel Republic