Courtesy: EasyJet

Those who recall the air travel turmoil caused by Iceland’s volcano may breathe a sigh of relief.

EasyJet, the U.K.’s largest airline, unveils groundbreaking technology to curtail future disruptions from volcanic activity.

The new AVOID (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector) system, invented by Dr. Fred Prata of the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, functions as an ash radar. Infrared technology on an aircraft sends images to both the pilots and the airline’s flight control center.

Pilots would be able to see an ash cloud up to 62 miles ahead of the aircraft and at altitudes between 5,000 and 50,000 feet. (As a reference, ash from Eyjafjallajokull shot up to 10,000 feet, according to the New York Times.) Meanwhile, on the ground, the control center could use the real-time data to reveal navigable airspace that would have been closed otherwise.

In May the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority, a safety regulator, eased its rules on ash clouds, permitting flights through higher concentrations of ash than before. Commenting on EasyJet’s news, CEO Andrew Haines says, “The CAA welcomes the fact that airlines are considering innovations such as this and we will do all we can to facilitate them.”

EasyJet CEO Andy Harrison says in a press release, “This pioneering technology is the silver bullet that will make large-scale ash disruption history.”

EasyJet will conduct its first test flight within two months on an Airbus, and subsequently, intends to roll out the trials onto its own aircraft.