Editorial

摘要

As I write my editorial air travel over large parts of Europe has been suspended because of safety fears as a result of the volcano beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland erupting. Planes are grounded and there is an unfamiliar silence in the skies - living close to an airport it unusual to have seen only one very small, presumably privately owned, light aircraft in the last week. The "cloud of volcanic ash blowing east across the north Atlantic Ocean and Norwegian Sea is making a significant impact worldwide. The timing, just after Easter, means that many of those affected are holiday makers, either preparing to return from holiday or looking forward to a holiday; but business travelers are also affected. Despite global information and communications technology much business is still done face-to-face, necessitating travel, but of course that same technology is coming to the "rescue" in some instances as face-to-face meetings are being replaced by virtual ones. It will be interesting to see if the experience changes our habits.