Ash cloud restricts Irish flights for 4th day

(News Today) - Ash from an Icelandic volcano shut down airports in Ireland for a fourth day Friday, disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers.

The airports in Shannon, Sligo, Knock, Galway and Kerry were closed to flights through 1 p.m. local time, the Irish Aviation Authority said. The airport in Donegal was expected to resume flights at midday.

"The restrictions are required as the increased level of recent volcanic activity has created a massive ash cloud stretching 1,000 miles long and 700 miles wide," the IAA said.

"While the northerly winds are keeping the bulk of the cloud out in the Atlantic, the increased size of the cloud is encroaching on Irish airspace along the west coast of Ireland."

The volcano, which erupted last month, has been expelling denser and coarser ash higher into the atmosphere since Tuesday afternoon, the IAA said.

That ash is being carried down from Iceland toward Ireland and the United Kingdom, causing the flight problems, it said.

Airports in Ireland, Northern Ireland and western Scotland were shut earlier this week because of the ash.

Flights between North America and Europe are still permitted to fly over the ash cloud at higher altitudes, the IAA said.

"The IAA appreciates the difficulties facing passengers and airlines at this time," it said in a statement. "Decisions are taken solely on the grounds of safety."

It urged passengers to contact their airlines for the latest information on their flights.

Volcanic ash is a serious hazard to aircraft, reducing visibility, damaging flight controls and ultimately causing jet engines to fail.

It is the first time the ash had caused problems for British and Irish airspace since last month, when it forced the shutdown of airports across the European continent for six days and stranded tens of thousands of passengers around the world.

Source : CNN

Read More

Volcanic ash closes some UK airspace

London, England (News Today) - Britain's Civil Aviation Authority announced that some airspace over Northern Ireland and Scotland would be closed Wednesday because ash emissions from Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull grew heavier and dipped further south.

Scottish airports in Glasgow, Prestwick, Inverness, Stornoway, Benbecula, Tiree, Islay, Barra and Campbeltown will close at 7 a.m. GMT (3 a.m. ET), along with the airport in Derry, Northern Ireland, the CAA said.

The Inverness airport will reopen at 1 p.m. GMT (9 a.m. ET), but Belfast City and Belfast International Airports will close at that time. All the airports are expected to reopen at 7 p.m. GMT (3 p.m. ET).

The CAA said that airports in Edinburgh and Carlisle, Scotland, and Blackpool, Liverpool and Manchester in England were expected to remain open. Ash is expected to be near those airports, however, and the authority recommended that passengers check with their airlines before arriving at the airport.

The Irish Aviation Authority had grounded all flights into and out of Ireland between 6 a.m. GMT and 12 p.m. GMT (2 a.m. and 8 a.m. ET) Tuesday because of ash.

European aviation officials closed airports across the continent for six days last month because of an ash cloud from the erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland.

The disruption to flights Tuesday came, as European Union transport ministers met in Brussels to discuss ways of improving coordination between member states in the event of another volcanic ash crisis.

Ministers agreed to work on a series of measure to improve future cooperation, according to a press release.

These include working towards establishing a "single European regulator for a single European sky" and working with national authorities to draw up guidance to ensure uniform application of rules for passengers.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said: "Let's be clear about one thing. This is going to continue to happen. It might be next week. It might be in 20 years. But it will happen again; and volcanoes do not obey rules. So we need to be faster and more flexible in our response."

Source : CNN

Read More

Agency denies tarmac delay exemption requests

(News Terupdate) - Airlines hoping for exemptions at some airports to the tarmac delay rule going into effect next week are out of luck.

The Department of Transportation denied requests Thursday from JetBlue, Delta, Continental, American and US Airways for exceptions to the rule, which were prompted by runway construction at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, one of the nation's most congested airports.

"Passengers on flights delayed on the tarmac have a right to know they will not be held aboard a plane indefinitely," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "This is an important consumer protection, and we believe it should take effect as planned."

In its ruling, the department indicated that it may take the construction at JFK into account "when deciding whether to pursue enforcement action for failing to comply with the rule and the amount of the fine, if any, to seek as a result of noncompliance."

"We thank the Department for recognizing that there are unique challenges at New York's Kennedy and will take that into account when deciding whether to pursue civil penalties," American Airlines spokesman Tim Smith said in response to the ruling.

Airlines could re-route or reschedule JFK flights to minimize congestion, the department said.

"We are prepared to comply with the original ruling," Delta Air Lines spokesman Anthony Black said.

The rule, set to go into effect April 29, is designed to prevent planes on domestic routes from sitting on the tarmac for more than three hours with passengers on board. Airlines who violate the rule could face fines of up to $27,500 per passenger, the maximum allowed for violating any aviation consumer rule.

In March, JetBlue Airways asked for an exemption to the rule at JFK, where an extensive construction project has closed the airport's busiest runway.

Delta and American Airlines also requested exemptions at JFK, and Continental Airlines followed with its own request that added neighboring LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International airports.

US Airways asked for a similar exemption at its hub at Philadelphia International Airport, arguing that "it shares the same airspace, is part of the same air traffic control center (New York Center), and has the same congestion challenges as JFK, LaGuardia and Newark."

Airline passenger advocate Kate Hanni, founder of FlyersRights.org and a supporter of the tarmac delay rule, is pleased the exemptions were denied.

"We are both thrilled and gratified that DOT has taken a Hard Stand against long tarmac delays as a safety issue. We believe that 700 million travelers a year will benefit knowing they can reasonably predict the outcome of their flight knowing they cannot be held longer than 3 hours in a sealed metal tube!" Hanni said via e-mail.

Another passenger advocate, David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, is opposed to the three-hour rule, stating that "placing time deadlines on safety related activities should never occur."

The rule "creates not only safety concerns for passengers, but misery in the from of many more cancelled flights," he said.

Stempler and other opponents of the rule say airlines are likely to cancel more flights during the busy summer travel season to avoid penalties incurred by long delays.

Source : CNN

Read More

Iceland closes airports for first time due to volcanic ash cloud

(News Terupdate) - Iceland will close two airports on Friday for the first time, a week after ash from an Icelandic volcano forced the shutdown of airspace over much of Europe and stranded thousands of passengers around the world, the Icelandic aviation authority announced Thursday.

The Keflavik International Airport and Reykjavík International Airport will be closed beginning early Friday morning, the aviation authority said, according to a statement on the Keflavik airport's website.

Though the ash cloud originated in Iceland, the country's airports have been spared from closure until now. Strong northwest winds had been blowing ash from the volcano, in the south of Iceland, out to sea and over Europe.

"Now the winds have died down, and the cloud is lingering around Iceland," said Chris Almond, a forecaster with Britain's Met Office, the nation's national weather service.

Two other Icelandic international airports, in Akureyri and Egilsstadir, will stay open to all air traffic, the aviation authority said. The ash cloud is not expected to reach those cities, which are in the north and east of the island nation.

Icelandair announced Thursday that trans-Atlantic passengers from the U.S. and Europe who would have stopped in Keflavik will be rerouted Friday via Glasgow, Scotland.

Icelandair said that passengers traveling to and from Iceland will have the option of being re-routed through the Akureyri airport, a four-hour drive from Reykjavík. The airline is arranging bus travel between Akureyri airport and the Reykjavík Bus Terminal.

Elsewhere in Europe, most airports appeared to be open on Thursday and are expected to be open Friday.

But the cloud still caused flight disruptions Thursday. The British Ministry of Defence temporarily suspended non-essential flying Thursday after volcanic ash was found on some of its Typhoon fast jets.

The closure of so much European airspace for nearly a week left untold numbers of travelers stranded, and it's not clear how long it will take to get everyone home.

Many airlines added or rearranged flights to try to clear the backlog.

At its peak, the crisis affected 1.2 million passengers a day and 29 percent of all global aviation, according to the International Air Transport Association.

It was the worst disruption of air traffic since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. Following those attacks, the United States closed its air space for three days, forcing Europe to postpone all transatlantic flights.

The International Air Transport Association estimated earlier this week that the Icelandic volcano crisis cost airlines more than $1.7 billion in lost revenue through Tuesday.

The crisis began after the volcano beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted April 14 and sent a cloud of ash into the atmosphere. By the next day that cloud had reached Europe, where authorities quickly closed the airspace over safety fears.

By Tuesday, however, airlines had started to complain that the measures were too restrictive. Ash levels in most parts of Europe, they said, were low enough to allow the safe operation of flights.

Scientists in Iceland said Wednesday the volcano has decreased its ash output by 80 percent compared to the first day of eruption.

Armann Hoskuldsson, a volcanologist at the University of Iceland, told a briefing that the volcano's output is now "insignificant," though it will continue to be active for a while.

That reduction in volcanic activity appeared to be the main reason that flights resumed operating in Europe on Wednesday, along with European countries relaxing their restrictions on flight, according to a spokeswoman for Eurocontrol, an intergovernmental body that manages European air travel.

In Britain, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued revised guidance on flying through volcano ash clouds, allowing airlines to conduct their own risk assessments and requiring them to report any ash damage to the authorities.

The 27 countries of the European Union also agreed with Eurocontrol to split the airspace into zones based on their ash content and to allow flights in the unaffected areas, said Spanish Minister of Public Works Jose Blanco.

"Airspace was being closed based on theoretical models, not on facts," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of International Air Transport Association. "Test flights by our members showed that the models were wrong."

Source : CNN

Read More

Airlines lash out over ash cloud compensation

(News Terupdate) - Recriminations are emerging in the wake of the volcanic ash crisis with airlines expressing anger over passenger compensation rules and demanding financial help for losses caused by what they say was a needless ban on flights.

Michael O'Leary, chief executive of budget carrier Ryanair, has led criticism of European Union regulations that require operators to feed and accommodate stranded passengers, saying his airline has only agreed to pay under duress.

"The events of the last seven days, under which Europe's airlines were prevented from flying by the closure of European airspace highlight how absurd and discriminatory the EU261 regulations are towards Europe's airlines," O'Leary said in a statement.

Ryanair, which sells some flights for less than $10 but charges for extras including baggage, earlier said it would reimburse claims up to the cost of tickets, but later backed down saying it would meet "reasonable" expenses.

European flights back to 100 percent

"While competitor ferry, coach and train operators are obliged to reimburse passengers reasonable expenses, this reimbursement is limited to the ticket price paid to those operators," O'Leary added.

"Yet the airlines are required by regulation to meet potentially unlimited expenses, in circumstances where there has been a catastrophic closure of European airspace over the past seven days, as EU Governments and Regulators wrongly applied a blanket ban on flights over European airspace."

Has the ash situation affected your travels?

His comments follow complaints by airlines and industry bodies that the six-day flight ban imposed by authorities due to ash from and Icelandic volcano, were unduly cautious.

The International Air Transport Authority, which says the ban cost the industry $1.7 billion in lost revenue, called on the European Union to ease the financial burden on airlines.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO, said the volcano crisis was an "act of God" beyond the control of airlines, who are now being victimized by unfair compensation regulations.

"The regulations were never meant for such extra-ordinary situations. It is urgent that the European Commission finds a way to ease this unfair burden," Bisignani said in a statement.

Latest travel developments

British Transport Minister Andrew Adonis said European authorities were considering requests for financial assistance by airlines and defended the flight ban.

"It was not a mistake. The safety authorities have quite properly been making safety their paramount consideration," Adonis told CNN. "Unless we can guarantee the safety of the air traveling public, there will be no planes flying at all."

Was airspace shutdown necessary?

He added: "The European Commission and the European Union is looking at the financial issue in respect of airlines. They are making proposals next week and I will of course be looking at those proposals."

Adonis also urged passengers to pursue claims against airlines.

"Passengers have right if they are with EU carriers to be re-routed, which gives them a ticket home and and food and accommodation in the period that they were unable to travel. These rights are enshrined in EU regulations and passengers should exercise them," he said.

Source : CNN

Read More

Europe flights back to '100 percent'

London, England (News Terupdate) - Flights across Europe are expected to return to "100 percent" on Thursday --seven days after ash from an Icelandic volcano forced the shutdown of airspace and stranded thousands of passengers around the world, the air traffic agency Eurocontrol said.

The mood among passengers was one of cautious optimism. After days of endless waiting, many reserved their celebrations for when they were airborne.

"I think when we land down in America, then we'll know we're there. But at the minute, we're a bit cautious," said Georgina Evett.

She was part of a group trying to fly from Manchester, England, to Florida for a world cheerleading championship this week.

Manchester Airport was among many where flights are now taking off and landing.

The closure of so much European airspace for nearly a week left untold numbers of travelers stranded, and it's not clear how long it will take to get everyone home.

Many airlines added or rearranged flights to try to clear the backlog.

The crisis set off a surge of emergency requests from stranded Americans, prompting the U.S. State Department to scramble to arrange everything from housing to, in one case, dialysis treatment for an elderly patient in Frankfurt, Germany.

Tell us your stories -- send videos, photos

At its peak, the crisis affected 1.2 million passengers a day and 29 percent of all global aviation, according to the International Air Transport Association.

It was the worst disruption of air traffic since the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States in 2001. Following those attacks, the United States closed its air space for three days, forcing Europe to postpone all transatlantic flights.

In addition to clearing a massive backlog of passengers and cargo, airlines now face financial headaches as well as logistical ones.

Budget carrier Ryanair indicated Wednesday it does not plan to pay compensation to passengers other than lost ticket costs.

The European Union's top official for transport had said Monday that airlines were responsible for taking care of them while they were stranded.

The International Air Transport Association estimated Wednesday that the Icelandic volcano crisis cost airlines more than $1.7 billion in lost revenue through Tuesday. Between Saturday and Monday, when disruptions were greatest, IATA said lost revenues reached $400 million each day.

The crisis began after the volcano beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted Wednesday and sent a cloud of ash into the atmosphere. By the next day that cloud had reached Europe, where authorities quickly closed the airspace over safety fears.

Volcanic ash can shut down engines and electrical systems and damage a plane's windscreen.

By Tuesday, however, airlines had started to complain that the measures were too restrictive.

Ash levels in most parts of Europe, they said, were low enough to allow the safe operation of flights.

Scientists in Iceland said Wednesday the volcano has decreased its ash output by 80 percent compared to the first day of eruption, April 14.

Armann Hoskuldsson, a volcanologist at the University of Iceland, told a briefing that the volcano's output is now "insignificant," though it will continue to be active for a while.

That reduction in volcanic activity appeared to be the main reason that flights resumed operating in Europe on Wednesday, along with European countries relaxing their restrictions on flight, according to a spokeswoman for Eurocontrol, an intergovernmental body that manages European air travel.

In Britain, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued revised guidance on flying through volcano ash clouds, allowing airlines to conduct their own risk assessments and requiring them to report any ash damage to the authorities.

The 27 countries of the European Union also agreed with Eurocontrol to split the airspace into zones based on their ash content and to allow flights in the unaffected areas, said Spanish Minister of Public Works Jose Blanco.

"Airspace was being closed based on theoretical models, not on facts," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA. "Test flights by our members showed that the models were wrong."

He said the EU's decision to categorize airspace based on risk was a "step in the right direction," but Europe still needs uniform rules on air travel to avoid a repeat of the chaos of the past week.

NATS, the air traffic authority in Britain, said it is confident it had made the right decision in restricting flights.

"The primary concern for all the people involved -- the regulator, the government, and NATS -- has been to ensure flight safety," NATS Senior Manager Alex Bristol told CNN. "Until such time as we had evidence to give us different assurances, then the regulations which existed, and which we were using eight days ago ... then we had to restrict the airspace, and we did the right things."

Source : CNN

Read More

London's Heathrow receives flights

London, England (News Terupdate) - More than two dozen planes landed at Europe's busiest airport early Wednesday, as restrictions began easing after five days of disruptions caused by last week's volcanic eruption in Iceland.

Twenty-five planes from around the world touched down at London's Heathrow Airport by 7:25 a.m. local time Wednesday (2:25 a.m. ET), but none has yet taken off. The airport said it is coordinating with airlines before the first flight takes off. Most passengers are heeding the advice of the airport to call their airline first before heading to the airport.

The new arrivals followed the landing of the first commercial airliner -- a British Airways flight from Vancouver, British Columbia -- there late Tuesday.

Passengers aboard British Airways Flight 084 broke out in applause as the plane landed shortly before 10 p.m. (5 p.m. ET), just over an hour after Britain's Civil Aviation Authority announced that it would reopen British airspace.

No commercial flight had landed at Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world, since Thursday afternoon. All other British airports were also set to reopen at 10 p.m., Transport Secretary Lord Andrew Adonis said after the aviation authority's announcement.

Airspace will reopen in phases, and some "no-fly zones" will remain in place where concentrations of ash are at unsafe levels, the CAA said. The restrictions, however, will be much less than what commercial airliners faced in the past week.

NATS, the country's air traffic control agency, issued a statement late Tuesday saying that most restrictions on British airspace had been lifted "with the exception of an area over the northwest of Scotland which continues to be affected by a dense concentration of volcanic ash."

The flight from Vancouver was one of more than two dozen British Airways flights already in the air bound for London when the CAA announcement was made.

They took off hoping there would be a window of opportunity to land the planes at Heathrow or Gatwick airports, a company representative said.

The 25 planes took off from the West Coast of the United States, Africa, India and other locations in Asia. A 26th plane that had hoped to reach London was sent to Brussels, Belgium, instead, British Airways said.

"We are very pleased that the aviation authorities have opened U.K. airspace to enable us to begin in earnest the task of bringing our stranded customers home," British Airways said in a statement.

But the airline warned it would take "some considerable time" before it can get its full schedule back on track.

The airline said it hopes to operate all long-haul flights out of Heathrow and Gatwick airports by Wednesday.

"This will help to get more aircraft, pilots and cabin crew back who are currently in the United Kingdom out to cities around the world to help customers still awaiting a flight," BA said.

Eruptions from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano are weakening, authorities in Iceland reported, but volcanic ash already in the air continued to blow toward Britain.

The decision to reopen airspace came after the CAA issued new guidance on the massive ash cloud snarling air traffic.

Data analysis and testing of flights through the ash cloud determined that aircraft have a higher tolerance to low-density ash levels than previously thought, allowing for the reopening of airspace, the CAA said.

Elsewhere, half of all Europe's flights were back in the air Tuesday.

Latest air travel developments

About 14,000 flights were expected to operate in European airspace Tuesday -- half of scheduled air traffic, according to Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel. Two-thirds of scheduled flights were canceled Monday, and nearly 80 percent did not fly over the weekend.

Flights on Monday were restricted to those above 20,000 feet, Eurocontrol said. Lower airspace is closed or severely restricted across Europe, it said.

Planes were back in the air in France, Germany and Italy. Around 75 percent of scheduled flights were expected from France's two main airports: Charles de Gaulle and Orly, French Minister for Ecology Jean-Louis Borloo told French radio network RTL.

Germany's air authority, DFS, allowed flights to take off and land in German airports at low altitude under visual flight rules to reduce the risk of damage to airline instruments. The country's main carrier, Lufthansa, said it hoped to operate as many as 330 flights, including some long-haul flights, Tuesday.

Italy has reopened its airspace nationwide, the Italian aviation authority ENAC announced.

While airports were open in Spain, the ban on flying in British airspace left thousands of Britons trapped there. A British Navy vessel, HMS Albion, was dispatched to pick up 300 civilians from Santander, Spain, along with hundreds of British military personnel who were returning from Afghanistan, Britain's Ministry of Defense said.

Is your government doing enough to help stranded travelers?

Some countries opened their airspace to travel, while keeping airports closed.

Norway opened part of its airspace near Bergen briefly Tuesday and predicted Gardermoen, just north of Oslo, would be open all day, the country's air traffic control service AVINOR said.

Meanwhile, Finland confirmed that all Finnish airports would remain closed until 9 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) Wednesday.

Would you be afraid to fly through the ash cloud?

Meteorologist Derrick Ryall of the Met Office in London said there is no "defined safe limit" for volcanic ash.

"No one has said what a safe limit for aircraft is, so therefore it's very difficult for these judgments to be made," he said.

We really need to work out what the minimum ash concentration is ... for safe flight. We need to establish what that is, because if we don't, we can expect to see repeats of this sort of disruption," said Simon Day, a volcanologist at University College London.

Since the volcanic eruption worsened last week, sending an ash cloud into the skies, airlines have been losing at least $200 million a day, according to the International Air Transport Association, the trade group representing airlines.

Airports had lost close to 136 million euros ($184 million) as of Sunday, said Olivier Jankovec, director general of Airports Council International, Europe.

Tell us your stories -- send videos, photos

More than 6.8 million passengers had been affected, Jankovec said in a statement, adding that the effect is worse than after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

Thousands of people have been living in airports.

"I have been living out of my carry-on for five days," said Paulo Wu, stranded in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

After two nights sleeping on a cot at the airport, he was able to get into a hotel with an actual bed, he said.

"I have no bags. My bags are somewhere, I think, at the airport. I just have my carry-on," he said.

Source : CNN

Read More

Space shuttle set to land Tuesday morning

(News Terupdate) - After spending an extra day in orbit, the seven astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery prepared for a Tuesday morning landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida as NASA officials closely monitored weather conditions in the area.

Bad weather prompted mission managers to scrap two landing opportunities at the space center on Monday.

Officials were ready to redirect the landing to Edwards Air Force Base in California if Florida's weather proved unfavorable during the two Tuesday morning landing windows.

The shuttle was on schedule for a 7:34 a.m. ET touchdown at Kennedy if conditions allowed. A second opportunity at Kennedy if a delay is necessary would lead to an 8:08 a.m. landing.

If the site becomes Edwards, the first landing opportunity would lead to an 8:01 a.m. ET touchdown, with other possibilities for 9:35 a.m. or 11: 11 a.m. landings.

The astronauts were awakened at 10:21 p.m. ET Monday to begin landing preparations, according to NASA, with mission control playing Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" as their wake-up call.

On Monday, overcast clouds and a chance of showers in the Cape Canaveral, Florida, area forced the wave-off of an 8:48 a.m. ET opportunity. A scheduled landing at 10:23 a.m. ET also was canceled.

The volcanic ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier, which has caused widespread flight disruptions throughout the world, did not affect the landing plans, NASA said.

The shuttle's re-entry course was not near the ash cloud, the agency said.

The shuttle launched on April 5 and docked to the International Space Station two days later.

It marked the first time four women have been in space at one time.

Three women -- mission specialists Stephanie Wilson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki -- comprised part of Discovery's crew.

NASA astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson was already at the space station.

The astronauts' trip included three spacewalks and delivery of more than seven tons of equipment and supplies.

There are only three shuttle missions remaining before the space shuttle fleet is retired.

Source : CNN

Read More

Iceland volcano leaves travelers in limbo

(News Terupdate) - In the empty spot at the dinner table where Stefano Poma should be sitting, a smiling father's face beams from a laptop screen.

A four-day trip from Stockholm, Sweden, to Milan, Italy, has swelled to nine days and counting because of the volcanic ash drifting across Europe from Iceland. The family set up a video-chat terminal at the table to tide the kids over until Poma can make the more than 1,000-mile bus ride home.

Through the rectangular display, Dad read books to the kids as they held up their plates of pasta to show what they were eating on camera.

"It's amazing what you can do today," says Michele Anenberg-Poma. "We thought, 'Take that, volcano.' "

Since the volcanic eruption beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland, many travelers and families are finding themselves in unusual situations.

Poma is expected to arrive home Wednesday night. Anenberg-Poma says daughter Emilia, 10, and son Giorgio, 8, are handling the situation well, although the boy's imagination is going wild.

See the family's digital reunion

"My son drew the cutest photo of a volcano exploding with palm trees and helicopters rescuing people."

With the ongoing volcanic eruption, some people in Europe face unwanted vacations of sorts, with great destinations but limited funds.

Christopher Davies and his wife, Darcy, publishers of a wine magazine, say they are stuck in Rome, Italy, and their five days' worth of travel insurance have run out. The Denver, Colorado, couple say they were fortunate to be getting $300 per day while it lasted.

When in Rome ...

"Rome is an expensive city, so after hotel expenses, there is only enough left over for pizza and a bottle of wine."

They're staying in a hotel and hope to fly out on Saturday. Others are stuck in transit, hoping for a bus ride or stuck in an airport.

Paulo Wu of Taiwan spent five days in the airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, before getting a room at a hotel. He departed for a trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany, but got stuck in Amsterdam. During his stay in the airport, he documented the scene around him: the cots set up, the crowds waiting and the general scene about the airport. He says he has gotten to meet people and been able to help others because he speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese.

Cots strewn about airport passages

"I am traveling by myself, but I have met many friends from different countries, on occasion I am offering my laptop to let them write e-mails to their families, or chit chat through Skype. And sometimes I try to help people who doesn't speak English trying to communicate."

He says people are starting to be encouraged about leaving the airport and are waiting for flights to resume. In the meantime, the wait has been an interesting spectacle.

"The airport occasionally brings some band to play on the waiting lounge area. That livens things up a lot!"

Wu says he has experienced other delays, including getting grounded in Canada during the September 11 terrorist attacks and also being in Hong Kong's airport when former President Clinton was there.

How will airlines deal with backlog?

"As a global business traveler, I see so much, and experience so much. Every time, I get the chance to be in the right place at wrong time."

The timing hasn't been so good either for Ned Morgan, a U.S. master's student studying in Brussels, Belgium. He says he was hoping to make it back home to get a job interview. Now, thanks to the volcanic ash, he's just glad he has an apartment to go home to.

"I haven't had much luck with finding jobs and having the opportunity to finally get a chance was amazing. I was hoping that everything would go smoothly, but I was horribly mistaken."

Read more about Morgan's story

He's also disappointed he's going to miss meeting with his girlfriend and her family in the U.S. for her birthday party. He says he never expected he would be stranded in Europe, but he's starting to feel like he's "stuck on an island in the middle of nowhere" with train stations swamped and people trying to figure out how to get home.

"Being stranded in Europe wouldn't seem like such a bad thing, but under these circumstances, it is the worst thing that could have happened."

Things work the other way around, too, as Judy Cariker of Forth Worth, Texas, can tell you.

She and several other households are hosting a group of British tea enthusiasts from Pakenham, England. The group was supposed to go back home this week, but they're now camped out in Texas.

The women were visiting as an exchange of sorts after a group of U.S. women visited Pakenham last year. Cariker said the visitors did a great job of hosting an English tea on Texan soil.

"They cooked everything that we had to eat. It's been quite an event."

See a photo of the tea ladies

Cariker says they're keeping busy with planned activities such as the "retail therapy" they'd already penciled in, but she anticipates that they'll need to work to find ways to keep everyone occupied and happy. She's not sure when they'll be able to go.

"No one will likely leave until late this week at the earliest."

Source : CNN

Read More

How will airlines deal with ash backlog?

(News Terupdate) - The thousands of travelers who have been stuck at airports around the world because of the volcanic ash cloud over Europe will need more patience when airliners are cleared to fly.

The huge backlog of passengers combined with flights that are already full means they may not be going home anytime soon.

It could take three to six days for airline operations to get back to normal, said Giovanni Bisignani, the director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, on Monday.

The group represents 230 airlines all over the world and has been a vocal critic of how European governments have handled the crisis.

"Even if they opened European airspace tomorrow, the majority of passengers should not expect to get on the first flight out in the morning," added Steve Lott, the group's head of communications for North America.

See how iReporters are coping with being in limbo

"An international airline system is such a carefully orchestrated network that any disruption, especially of this size, is really going to take many days for operations to get back to normal."

Adding to the problem will be the passengers who are scheduled to fly on the dates when normal service resumes and who will have the priority to travel.

If airlines bump booked passengers in order to accommodate stranded ones, the bumped travelers would require hotel accommodations and would be entitled to compensation, said David Henderson, a spokesman for the Association of European Airlines.

"There would be very, very big bills doing that," Henderson said.

The scenario of booked passengers being kicked off to make room for stuck travelers when flights resume is unlikely. Those who have a confirmed seat are going to get on their flights, Lott said.

Airlines have several options to try to clear the backlog. Major carriers may have the flexibility to add more flights or put larger aircraft on regular routes, Lott said.

Delta, for example, is in the process of scheduling more flights so it can start getting passengers out as quickly as possible, spokesman Anthony Black said. He could not estimate how long it would take the airline to deliver its stuck passengers to their destinations.

Meanwhile, Germany's Lufthansa -- which has 27 planes on the ground in North America -- is hoping to add flights "as soon as we can," spokeswoman Jennifer Janzen said.

"The main priority now is to work with the aircraft that we currently have on the ground and all over the world and get those back into some sort of rotation," Janzen said. "This is worse than 9/11 for us."

Lufthansa is also focusing on the passengers who are in transit and have been stuck in North America for the past few days, Janzen added.

Meanwhile, air travelers are being urged to stay informed and plan on being stuck for a little while longer.

"I would say to any passenger stranded: Do not immediately rush to the airport because you believe your airline is back in the air," said CNN's Richard Quest, a business travel specialist who is himself stuck in New York.

"Check the Web sites, call the call centers and wait. ... You do know you will get home at some point."

Source : CNN

Read More

Developments in volcanic ash affecting air travel

(News Terupdate) - Here are the latest highlights regarding problems for air travel caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

New developments:

• The volcanic eruption strengthened Tuesday, and "a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK," the United Kingdom's air traffic control services said in a statement. "This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working."

The latest information shows that "the situation is worsening in some areas," National Air Traffic Services said. "Based on this information, the situation for Northern Irish airports for the morning is uncertain, due to the new ash cloud."

• Scottish airports, as announced, should be available from 7 a.m. (2 a.m. ET), and more UK airspace could become available from 1 p.m. (8 a.m. ET), "although not as far south as the main London airports."

• The situation may change overnight, Air Traffic Services said. "We are working closely with government, airports and airlines, and airframe and aero engine manufacturers to get a better understanding of the effects of the ash cloud and to seek solutions."

Ongoing:

• About 8,700 flights have taken place in European airspace Monday, said Eurocontrol, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation. A normal Monday would see about 28,000 flights, it has said.

• Eruption of the volcano previously had "virtually ceased," but it was erupting to between 10,000 and 15,000 feet Monday, the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center in London, England, said. CNN's Gary Tuchman in Iceland said lava was starting to flow on the mountain, but not on the ground, and the ash cloud was large.

• European officials "concluded that, while the initial reaction by the states was prudent and reduced risk to an absolute minimum, it was now time to move towards a harmonized European approach that permitted flights -- but only where safety is not compromised," said Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation. Eurocontrol hosted the news conference, which included the European Commission, several European nations, air navigation service providers and technical experts.

• A limited "no-fly zone" will be established by the nations concerned, based on forecasts from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center. Airlines will be permitted to operate outside the zone. "In their decision as to whether to fly, they will be supported by shared data including advice from the scientific community ... including safety assessments supported by tests," Eurocontrol said. "In time, it should be possible to move towards an approach in which full discretion is given to aircraft operators."

• Finland said F-18 jets flown in training missions Thursday over northern Finland showed "accumulations of powdery volcanic dust" in the aircraft intakes. Images of one aircraft's engine showed ingested ash had melted under high temperatures in the combustion chamber. Melted ash could block cooling passages and may result in engine damage and overheating, the Finnish Ministry of Defense said Monday.

• A British Airways test Sunday found no damage to a passenger aircraft at a variety of altitudes, the airline said in a statement Monday. "The analysis we have done so far, alongside that from other airlines' trial flights, provides fresh evidence that the current blanket restrictions on airspace are unnecessary," BA chief executive Willie Walsh argued in the statement.

• The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it "supports the decision by the European Commission to resume air traffic in parts of continental Europe. Safety is the main priority for both U.S. and European aviation authorities." The agency said it remains ready to assist both the air carriers and colleagues in Europe in helping stranded passengers and safely resuming air service between North America and Europe.

• "There cannot be any compromise on safety" when deciding when to open European airspace, said Siim Kallas, the European Commission vice president in charge of transport, as some airlines pressed to be allowed to fly. The decision "must be based on science," he said.

Airlines cannot apply directly to the European Union for bailout funds, he added; national governments must make the request.

• European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso ordered the formation of a group to study the impact of the volcanic ash cloud on the European economy and the air travel industry.

Are you stranded because of flight issues? Share your story with CNN

• Airports have lost close to 136 million euros ($183 million U.S.) so far, said Olivier Jankovec, director general of Airports Council International Europe, a group that represents airports. More than 6.8 million passengers have been affected, he said.

• The disruption is costing airlines at least $200 million a day in lost revenues, said Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of the International Air Transport Association, an industry trade group. He said Monday that if flight restrictions continue, some small- and medium-size airlines could be put in jeopardy.

• British Airways is losing about 15 million to 20 million British pounds ($23 million to $30 million) a day, including the costs to passengers, chief executive Willie Walsh said in a statement. The airline "has significant funding available to sustain it," he said.

• IATA criticized European governments "for their lack of leadership in handling airspace restrictions" and "urged a re-think of the decision-making process" for closing European skies.

• Results of test flights show "there's no impact" in European Union airspace from the volcanic ash, European Union Secretary of State Diego Lopez Garrido said Sunday.

Austria

• Austrian airspace, including all Austrian airports, reopened at 5 a.m. Monday (11 p.m. ET Sunday), said the Austrian aviation agency Austro Control. It will continue to monitor the situation and has not ruled out another closure in the coming hours.

Belgium

• The Brussels airport has confirmed arrivals will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday (2 a.m. ET). Departures will begin at 2 p.m. (8 a.m. ET) if the air quality remains clear, officials said.

Canada

• Flights into and out of St. John's, Gander and Deer Lake, Newfoundland, may be affected by volcanic activity, AirCanada said.

Denmark

• The Danish Aviation Authority said its upper airspace -- above 35,500 feet -- was open as of 2:30 p.m. Monday (8:30 a.m. ET). Denmark's airspace below 35,500 feet remained closed, and will be closed until at least 8 a.m. Tuesday (2 a.m. ET), it said.

Finland

• Finland, which had opened airspace over two airports briefly, closed airspace at one of them. As of 8 p.m. Monday (1 p.m. ET), flight restrictions were in place at Helsinki and Turku airports, the Finland Aviation Authority said. Tampere-Pirkkala airport is open until midnight (5 p.m. ET). Earlier, the aviation authority had opened airspace to Tampere-Pirkkala and Turku airports, citing "a break" in the ash cloud.

• U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has canceled a trip to Helsinki, Finland, because of continued aviation difficulties involving the ash cloud, a State Department official said Monday. Clinton had been set to leave for Helsinki on Tuesday. A decision has not been made on whether Clinton will visit Tallinn, Estonia, the official said. If she does, she would not leave Washington before Wednesday.

France

• Airports north of a line from Nantes to Nice will undergo "a partial reopening," French officials said. Air corridors will be opened between Paris and the airports of the south, including Bordeaux-Paris, Toulouse-Paris, Marseilles, Paris and Nice from 8 a.m. Tuesday (2 a.m. ET). Lyon's airport will open Monday night.

• France reopened airports in Toulouse, Montpellier, Pau, Tarbes, Biarritz, Bordeaux, Nice, and Marseilles until 3 p.m. Monday (9 a.m. ET), when they will reassess the situation.

• Air France is busing passengers from de Gaulle down to these airports in the south of the country. The airline plans to have seven flights leave France on Monday: six from Toulouse airport and one from Pau.

It also hopes to have nine nine flights fly into France on Monday: into airports in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nice and Marseilles.

• The French national rail company SNCF is adding 80,000 extra places on the Eurostar high-speed trains running from Paris to London this week. Tickets will cost a special fare of 96 euros (about $130) round trip, less than half the normal last-minute price.

Germany

• German airspace will remain closed until 2 p.m. Tuesday (8 a.m. ET). This does not affect an earlier announcement from Lufthansa that it will fly 50 airplanes currently in 15 intercontinental destinations back to Germany beginning late Monday.

• Germany's Lufthansa airline will fly 50 airplanes currently stopped in 15 intercontinental destinations back to Germany and will bring back 15,000 people. The flights will begin late Monday, and the first -- a flight from the Middle East -- is due to land at 3 a.m. Tuesday (9 p.m. ET Monday). Some domestic flights will also begin Monday night, the airline said.

Ireland

• Ireland extended its airspace closure through 6 p.m. (1 p.m. ET) Monday.

Italy

• The airspace in northern Italy is closed until 8 a.m. Tuesday (2 a.m. ET), the country's civil aviation authority said. Airspace throughout the rest of the country opened at 7 a.m. Monday (1 a.m. ET), but the situation remains fluid with officials checking how long it can remain open, the civil aviation authority said.

Netherlands

• Three KLM flights will leave Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET), according to the airline. The flights are bound for Shanghai, China; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; and New York's JFK airport. Priority was given to transit passengers, KLM said, but it could not confirm the exact number of passengers aboard.

• Intercontinental flights scheduled to arrive in Amsterdam on Monday "will be decided on a case-by-case basis, at the latest four hours before departure," KLM said.

Norway

• The airspace over Oslo airport (Gardermoen), and Kjevik, Torp and Rygge airports opened Monday.

Poland

• About half the airspace in Poland is open, but that over Krakow remains closed, an airport official in the historic city said Monday.

Russia

• Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport will resume some flights to Europe, Israel, Egypt and Turkey. Twelve Russian airports canceled a total of 448 flights Monday morning. An additional 80 were delayed, and two were postponed, affecting nearly 39,000 passengers.

Sheremetyevo airport has been affected by far more than others: 277 canceled flights and 59 delayed, with more than 28,000 people stranded.

• Across the country, 448 flights were canceled, 80 delayed, and two postponed, affecting almost 39,000 passengers.

Scotland

• Scotland will reopen its airspace at 7 a.m. Tuesday (2 a.m. ET), the United Kingdom's air traffic control service said. "The volcanic eruption has reduced and the volcano is not currently emitting ash to altitudes that will affect the UK," it said. Airspace above England and Wales, including London, may be opened later Tuesday.

Spain

• All 16 airports in Spain were scheduled to reopen at 3:30 p.m. Sunday (9:30 a.m. ET) -- several hours earlier than previously expected, the government announced.

Sweden

• The airspace north and west of the flight corridor from Stockholm to Gothenburg opened Monday morning. The airspace around Bromma Airport has also opened.

Switzerland

• Switzerland is not permitting flights before 8 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) Tuesday, the government said.

Thailand

Thai Airways, based in Bangkok, estimates the cloud is costing the airline $3 million a day and has stranded 6,000 of its passengers.

United Arab Emirates

• Emirates airline says the disruption has cost it $50 million.

• The United Arab Emirates will not impose penalties on anyone who overstays a visa as a result of the travel disruption, the Interior Ministry said.

United Kingdom

• UK airspace will "progressively open" Tuesday, the United Kingdom's air traffic control service said.

• Britain's Manchester Airport will reopen at 9 a.m. Tuesday (4 a.m. ET) unless there is a deterioration in conditions, the agency said.

• British Airways will aim to resume some flights into and out of London's airports beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday (2 p.m. ET) "following the proposed reopening of UK and European airspace by the aviation authorities."

• The British Royal Navy is deploying two ships, HMS Ocean and HMS Ark Royal, to rescue travelers stranded by the ash, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced. The Ocean is in southern British waters, standing by for orders. The Ark Royal, which was on an exercise off the northwest coast of Scotland, is sailing south to provide further assistance.

The navy's HMS Albion will arrive in Santander, Spain, on Tuesday morning, "where its primary role will be to collect U.K. service personnel who have recently left the ongoing operation in Afghanistan," Britain's Ministry of Defense said.

• The British Air Transport Association, with support from all major UK airlines, wrote a letter to Britain's secretary of state for transport, Lord Andrew Adonis, with a copy to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other officials. The letter, according to a statement from the association, "stressed the critical nature of the current situation facing the public and airline industry; sought a restart of flights at the earliest opportunity in a safe and risk-assessed manner; welcomed the government's support for repatriation of stranded travelers; and asked [the] government to commit to standing behind the industry financially at this very difficult time."

Other countries

• There are restrictions on civil flights across most of northern and central Europe. This swath includes Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

Source : CNN

Read More

Schumer: Several airlines vow not to charge for carry-on bags

Washington (News Terupdate) - Sen. Charles Schumer announced Sunday that several major airlines have promised not to charge passengers for carry-on baggage.

Schumer, D-New York, said he personally contacted officials at American Airlines, Delta Airlines, JetBlue, United Airlines and US Airways, and secured commitments from all five companies.

Two weeks ago, local carrier Spirit Airlines became the first in the United States to propose charging passengers $45 to store luggage in overhead bins.

"In the last week we have gained tremendous momentum in our effort to keep carry-on bags free," said Schumer. "We have begun to put the brakes on runaway and out-of-control airline fees. I am pleased some of the major carriers have responded to our efforts and have agreed not to charge for something that has always been free."

On Wednesday, Schumer introduced a bill that would amend the tax code to eliminate a loophole that he and four other senators say allows airlines to avoid taxes on certain fees. That effort came a day after two other senators put forward a bill that would change how the Federal Aviation Administration regulates carry-on baggage fees.

Spirit argued that the fee, which applies to flights booked for August 1 or later, is part of a strategy to make boarding an aircraft faster and easier. The low-cost airline, which has advertised 1-cent ticket prices on some short-haul routes, said it plans to offset the increase by reducing fees for checked luggage and some fares.

"This is a free market and consumers are free to make their own choices," said Ben Baldanza, Spirit's chief executive, in a statement last week. "Spirit is all about giving customers options to choose what they want to pay for without subsidizing the choices of others."

Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, countered: "It seems that air carriers are crossing a line that will end [by] pricing middle-class families right out of being able to fly, and that's not right. While airlines have a right to set prices, families should have the right to bring a change of clothes with them and not be gouged for it."

As a result, Menendez, Schumer and the bill's other co-authors called on the U.S. Treasury Department to close a loophole that they say gives airlines preferential tax treatment for fees on services that are not deemed "reasonably necessary" for air transportation.

Under current laws, airlines pay a 7.5 cent tax for every dollar they collect in fares, but no tax is imposed on fees collected for "nonessential" services.

Watch Schumer say carry-on fees are "a step over the line" Video

The Block Airlines' Gratuitous Fees Act, or BAG Fees Act, introduced Wednesday would require that carry-on bags be considered essential and taxed at the same rate as fares.

The bill introduced Tuesday, the Free of Fees for Carry-On Act, is based on pending legislation to reauthorize funding for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Schumer says carry-ons are "a necessity of travel" for fliers Video

It would prohibit fees for carry-on bags that meet existing standards for weight and size, and require carriers to make detailed information about the fees available to passengers in advance.

The goal is to ensure that passengers are not penalized for bringing items such as medication, food and laptop computers on board, the senators said.

Source : CNN

Read More

Officials: Test flights show European skies may be safe

London, England (News Terupdate) - A few dozen test flights Sunday offered hope that the skies over much of Europe may be safe for air travel, but officials made no promises that the massive disruptions due to volcanic ash are about to go away.

"The results coming from these flights is... there's no impact in the area," European Union Secretary of State Diego Lopez Garrido said.

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said if the ash cloud continues "moving as it moves, then tomorrow almost 50 percent of European [Union] space will be risk free." That would allow more flights to resume, he said. "But we'll see [Monday] what the picture shows."

Two key air travel groups issued a joint statement pushing authorities to ease flying restrictions. Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, which represents airports, and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said they question "the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed."

But an expert who has flown into the skies to check conditions said he believes it will be "a few days yet" before it's safe to fly.

A spokeswoman for KLM, one of the airlines that conducted test flights, told CNN the flights show European airspace is safe, with the exception of Iceland. CNN's Gary Tuchman in Iceland reported that there were airspace problems in eastern Iceland. In the capital, Reykjavik, flights were taking off and landing.

British Airways, which conducted a test flight Sunday, said "conditions were perfect and the aircraft encountered no difficulties." The plane will undergo "a full technical analysis" next.

European transport ministers plan to discuss the results of flight tests at a technical meeting Monday.

The Italian Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC) announced it will re-open the entire Italian air space to all flights Monday.

The British government said British airspace will be closed for at least another 24 hours.

British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said officials were working around the clock to establish whether safe flight paths could be identified.

"Urgent discussions are taking place with European and international regulatory agencies. We want to be able to resume flights as soon as possible, but safety remains my paramount concern," Adonis said.

At London's Heathrow airport, a crowd broke out into cheers as a flight took off to test the skies.

Since the eruption beneath southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier worsened last week, prompting local evacuations and affecting European airspace, airlines have been losing at least $200 million a day, according to the International Air Transport Association, the trade group representing airlines.

Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said airports have lost close to 136 million euros ($184 million U.S.) so far. More than 6.8 million passengers have been affected, he said in a statement, adding that the effect is worse than after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

More on how stranded travelers are coping

"While safety remains a non-negotiable priority, it is not incompatible with our legitimate request to reconsider the present restrictions," he said.

"While Europe's airlines and airports consider safety to be an absolute priority, they are questioning the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed," ACI Europe and the AEA said in their joint statement. "The eruption of the Icelandic volcano is not an unprecedented event and the procedures applied in other parts of the world for volcanic eruptions do not appear to require the kind of restrictions that are presently being imposed in Europe."

But an expert who has flown over Europe to check the air said he saw "dangerous" conditions.

Guy Gratton, head of the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements at Britain's Cranfield University, flew into the skies Thursday and saw "a really strange and complex set of layers of ash," with a layer of perfectly clear air suddenly giving way to a layer of ash, he told CNN. If particles of ash enter a jet engine, when they come out they can solidify on turbine blades, he said.

A group of his colleagues took to the skies Sunday, and in some places saw "quite high concentrations of ash," he said.

"I suspect it's going to be a few days yet" before it's safe to fly, Gratton added.

Across much of Europe, huge crowds have packed into airports, train stations and ferry lines, desperate for a way to get to their destinations -- which, in many cases, is home.

"My heart is aching," Jen Patterson told "CNN Sunday Morning." She and her husband, Steve, were traveling in the Netherlands when the problems began. They've been unable to get home to their four children, all younger than 9, who are being cared for by friends and family.

An airline Sunday booked them on a flight Friday from Madrid to Dulles airport near Washington. "So the next challenge is getting to Madrid, whether by plane or by car," said Steve Patterson.

Get the latest information on travel disruptions

In various ways, millions of people have been affected by the aviation disruption, which some officials call worse than after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Some European airports reopened Sunday, including several in France and Germany, and all 16 that had been closed in Spain. But officials in each country emphasized that decisions were being made around the clock and could change at any time.

Airports in much of the continent remained closed, with passengers unable to go anywhere. Many hotels quickly ran out of rooms.

As the situation became more dire, Britain said Sunday it was looking at whether to draft in the Royal Navy to help those stranded. The government planned efforts overnight to see what military and commercial vessels were available for possible deployment.

Source : CNN

Read More

Europe's transport system feels strain as disruption continues

London, England (News Terupdate) - Rail and ferry services across Europe have been swamped by thousands of frustrated passengers forced to seek alternate modes of transport, as a volcanic ash cloud continues to disrupt European air travel.

The plumes resulted in the closure of some of the world's busiest airports, including Charles de Gaulle in Paris and London's Heathrow, as national aviation authorities closed airspace across much of Britain, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Poland.

"We've not seen anything like this before," said Rochelle Turner of Which? Holiday magazine. "It's been pretty devastating. We've seen television pictures of people stranded and airports empty. It's been difficult to provide them with advice because the picture keeps changing.

"However I'm pleased to see that many of the airlines are providing clear updates and information on their Web sites. But the best thing for people to do is to make alternative arrangements, such as rebooking your flight or seeking a refund."

Under European regulations, passengers whose flights have been cancelled must be given a choice between rerouting to their final destination or a full refund.

iReport: Have your plans been disrupted? Send your images, videos

But the need to travel has forced many people to look at alternate modes of transport, which is putting strain on Europe's transport network.

Britain

Britain's air traffic authority, NATS, said airspace over much of the UK would be closed to all flights except emergencies at least until 1 a.m. Saturday (8 p.m. ET Friday), prompting many people to head for rail stations and ferry ports.

Eurostar, which provides Britain's only land link with Europe, urged people to stay away from its St. Pancras rail terminal in central London unless they held a confirmed reservation for travel. They reported a huge surge in demand for tickets.

Volcanic ash still causing chaos

Nicola Marinelli, from Mantiova in northern Italy, told CNN he arrived in London on Wednesday to watch some musicals and is now stuck. "I'm trying to get to Paris to get a train to Italy," he said.

Francis Kruyer, a London-based finance analyst, explained he was trying to buy a Eurostar ticket from Brussels to London for his boss, who is stuck in Frankfurt. "On the Web site the tickets were available," he said. "But when I put in my payment details it just went down."

P&O ferries, which operates many of the sea routes between Britain and Europe, said its Web site was struggling to cope with a huge increase in enquiries and urged customers to call its contact center with enquiries or to book a crossing on any route. It added that there was no space available on its busiest service between Dover in southern England and Calais in northern France.

Many travelers, however, had little option but to find hotel accommodation for the night, which is particularly difficult in London according to Visit London. A spokesperson for the city's official visitor organization told CNN that most hotels in the capital have an 80 percent occupancy rate at this time of year.

In addition to people trying to leave the UK, the continued disruption was likely to affect thousands of holidaymakers trying to return to Britain after the Easter break.

The Travel Association (ABTA), which represents hundreds of UK tour operators, told CNN that its members will be doing all they can to help passengers during this unprecedented crisis. But it said tour operators did not have a legal obligation to pay for extra accommodation for travelers stranded in holiday resorts.

Christian Cull of First Choice and Thomson Holidays told CNN that they are focused on helping people out in their resorts and customers at airports, while those who have booked holidays already that have been affected by cancellations will be offered alternative trips.

However, insurance cover is slightly more complicated, according to Rochelle Turner. She warned that travel insurance companies have been inconsistent with their advice to customers.

"It's difficult for many to know if they're covered," she said. "Some say you are, while other policies are calling it 'an act of God.' No-one has one clear policy so it's all about reading the small-print."

Republic of Ireland
Low-budget Irish carrier Ryanair said that based on current meteorological forecasts it expected fight cancellations to continue till at least 1300GMT Monday.

As a result, it said, it has decided to cancel all scheduled flights to and from the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Northern France, Northern Germany, Poland and the Baltic States until that time.

"This decision has been taken by Ryanair in order to allow passengers to apply for a full refund or rebook onto flights operating later next week," the statement continued, "when Ryanair hopes that improved weather conditions may allow normal flight services to resume."

Irish Ferries, which operates services between Ireland and the UK, said flight cancellations by carriers including Aer Lingus and Ryanair had a "huge impact" on business and that extra staff were brought in to deal with reservations.

According to the Irish Times, The Jonathan Swift sailings from Dublin to Holyhead on Friday were "sold to capacity," while a spokesman for Stena Line said it was "under siege," with one ship described as "packed to the gunwales."

France

Across the English Channel, a rail strike threatened to bring further chaos to an already busy weekend in France.

The strike by rail workers, in its tenth day, brought disruption to the high-speed TGV service, as well as regional trains in the south of the country.

"The roads will be very busy as thousands of school children from the Paris area are returning from their Easter break, while children from other regions start theirs," said CNN's Jim Bitterman.

More than 20 airports have been closed, while thousands of stranded passengers scrambled to find other options, such as renting cars and taking trains. France 24 reported that large crowds of disgruntled passengers converged on Paris's Gare du Nord station where Eurostar laid on three extra Paris-London trains.

Poland

At Warsaw's main train station, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen explained that people were queuing for up to four hours for tickets, but now most of Friday's services out of the the capital are fully booked.

One American family pored over a map as they surveyed their options for getting back to the United States. One option, the father explained, was to take a train to Vienna, Austria and then hopefully catch whatever flight was U.S.-bound.

"The second option is to take a ten-hour train journey to Frankfurt, via Berlin, then hope we can get a connection to America when we get there," he said.

Source : CNN

Read More

World leaders struggle to reach Poland for funeral

Warsaw, Poland (News Terupdate) - World leaders' plans to reach Poland this weekend for the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski were in limbo as volcanic ash from Iceland continued to ground flights to and from Europe.

President Obama canceled his trip to Poland because of the ash, the White House said. The United States will be represented at the funeral by the U.S. ambassador to Poland, Lee Feinstein.

"I spoke with acting President [Bronislaw] Komorowski and told him that I regret that I will not be able to make it to Poland due to the volcanic ash that is disrupting air travel over Europe," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our thoughts and prayers, and will support them in any way I can as they recover from this terrible tragedy."

While French President Nicolas Sarkozy was already in Poland on Saturday and prepared to attend services the next day, other key leaders who planned to attend, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, still faced possible cancellations due to the ash.

Kaczynski, his wife, dignitaries and top military leaders were killed when their plane crashed in bad weather on April 10. They were on their way to a service commemorating Polish prisoners of war massacred in Russia during World War II.

It wasn't clear whether Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who was still in Moscow on Saturday, would take a flight to Poland for the funeral of the Polish first couple. The Kremlin last week said Medvedev did plan to attend.

Other leaders, including Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, ditched plane tickets and opted to drive to Poland instead. Latvian President Valdis Zatlers, a close friend of Kaczynski, also planned to make the 13-hour journey from his country to Poland by car.

The White House said the United States would be represented at the funeral by its ambassador to Poland, and that Obama had spoken with Poland's acting president.

"Michelle and I continue to have the Polish people in our thoughts and prayers, and will support them in any way I can as they recover from this terrible tragedy," Obama said in a statement. "President Kaczynski was a patriot and close friend and ally of the United States, as were those who died alongside him, and the American people will never forget the lives they led."

Eurocontrol, Europe's air traffic authority, said it expects about 5,000 flights to take place Saturday in European air space, compared to 22,000 on a normal Saturday. On Friday, there were 10,400 flights instead of the normal 28,000.

The ash cloud was drifting south and east over Europe. Although barely visible in the air, the ash -- made up of tiny particles of rock, glass and sand -- poses a serious threat to aircraft.

The volcano was still erupting and spewing ash Saturday. The eruption began March 20 beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland, blowing a hole in the ice. It worsened over the week, forcing local evacuations and eventually affecting European air space.

There were restrictions on civil flights across most of northern and central Europe, including Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, most of France, most of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, northern Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

The funeral Sunday will proceed as scheduled, though it will be affected by the travel restrictions, said Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorsky.

"The papal legate who was supposed to lead the funeral Mass has apparently canceled," he said. "And quite frankly, we can't blame people for not wanting to take even the smallest risk to the security of air traffic in the circumstances."

Several leaders -- including Austrian President Heinz Fischer, Britain's Prince Charles, Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf and Bulgarian President Georgi Pyrvanov -- planned to attend Kaczynski's funeral if flights resumed in their countries.

Britain's Gordon Brown, who has been campaigning to hang on as prime minister since the Parliament officially dissolved Monday, was never scheduled to attend. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was seeking alternate travel plans.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was in Strasbourg, France, and was seeking alternative travel options to get to Poland.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero canceled their plans to attend.

Meanwhile, thousands of people gathered in the Polish capital on Saturday to mourn the 96 victims of the plane crash.

Central Warsaw was in a lockdown as a trumpeter played, photos of the dead were displayed in Pilsudski Square, and speeches were delivered honoring the victims.

An estimated 1.5 million people are expected to turn out Sunday to bid farewell to Kaczynski, first at the state funeral and then at a church service in the historic city of Krakow.

Source : CNN

Read More

Volcano's grip on Europe's airspace expected for 3rd straight day

London, England (News Terupdate) - An ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano was projected to snarl international travel for a third straight day, as flight cancellations and airspace restrictions stretched into Sunday.

British Airways canceled flights to and from London airports on Sunday, and the United Kingdom's air traffic agency extended restrictions on U.K.-controlled airspace until at least 7 p.m. Sunday (2 p.m. ET).

Thousands of flights were canceled Saturday. European air traffic officials said 5,000 flights took place instead of the customary number of 22,000. About 10,400 flights took place in Europe on Friday, compared with the normal 28,000.

Experts: No end to volcano ash in sight

There were restrictions on civil flights in 23 countries across most of northern and central Europe. This swath includes Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, most of France, most of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, northern Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

iReport: Have your plans been disrupted? Send your images, videos

The eruption began March 20 beneath the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland, blowing a hole in the ice. It worsened this week, forcing local evacuations and eventually affecting European airspace. Although barely visible in the air, the ash -- made up of tiny particles of rock, glass and sand -- poses a serious threat to aircraft.

The situation has upended lives for millions of travelers but for now, many are adjusting to the inconvenience.

Kara Helwig of Neenah, Wisconsin, told CNN her 15-year-old daughter, Megan Emenecker, was stuck in Paris after her flight home from her French club trip was canceled.

"She didn't sound worried. They're just definitely ready to get home. They probably don't even have any clean clothes and are low on money. But they're all in pretty good spirits," Helwig said.

She said the group hopes to leave on Tuesday.

Conversely, at least 150 French students were stranded in the New York metropolitan area, according to Marie Charrier, spokeswoman for the French consulate. The students have been given access to the consulate's phones to call home, she said.

Two locations of Lycee Francais -- French-language schools -- are sheltering some of the students in their gymnasiums, Charrier said. Two hotels donated sheets, blankets and toiletry kits. The consulate is trying to help in getting the students home, she said, and in some cases has been helping with food costs.

Steve Patterson of Midlothian, Virginia, and his wife were supposed to fly home Friday from the Hague, Netherlands, where they had been visiting relatives. Their flight was canceled and they've been rebooked on a Monday flight.

Patterson told CNN the couple misses their four children -- all under the age of 9 -- at home, and have been speaking with them by phone and Skype.

See latest developments affecting air travel

"We aren't worried about them because they are being cared for by multiple friends and family," he said, adding the couple is "mainly just sad that we aren't with them. We miss them and can't wait to be reunited."

On Saturday, airlines such as American and Continental sliced intercontinental flights. About 600 trans-Atlantic flights take place each day, 300 in each direction. Of the 300 flights that would usually arrive in Europe, 73 flights arrived in Europe on Saturday morning.

Other airlines such as Air France, Lufthansa, Ryanair and Qantas announced restrictions to their schedules in Europe because of the ash, which experts have said can stall engines and cause electrical failures on board aircraft. There were delays and cancellations Saturday at all 10 of Russia's international airports, including those in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Russian Transport Ministry said.

iReport: High school class trip grounded

Upper air space has been made available in some of these restricted areas, depending on the observed and forecasted area of ash contamination, air traffic officials said. Parts of southern Europe, including Spain, the southern Balkan area, southern Italy, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey remained open and flights were taking place in these areas, the officials said.

The Icelandic volcano continued to erupt on Saturday, according to an official with Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. He said it's not clear when the eruption will end.

Travelers rush to trains and ferries

The United Kingdom's National Air Traffic Services said volcanic ash cloud from Iceland is moving around and changing shape, Weather forecasts show the ash cloud progressively covering the whole of the United Kingdom after 7 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) Saturday, the agency said.

World leaders planning to reach Poland this weekend for the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski faced challenges because of the volcanic ash.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama all canceled plans to travel to Poland Saturday for Kaczynski's funeral on Sunday. Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Prince Charles also said they were unable to attend.

iReport: Canceled flights create unexpected roommates

Airlines were rebooking passengers, and people were turning to other travel options, such as cars, trains and ferries.

Alexey Bekin, a 40-year-old Muscovite who runs a construction company, has been stuck in Geneva, Switzerland -- his situation illustrating the frustrations of stranded air travelers. After his flight home to Moscow was canceled Saturday, he said Aeroflot offered people hotel rooms that would have to be shared with strangers. Bekin opted to pay for his own hotel room.

He considered taking a train to Milan to catch a flight, but all the trains were sold out. He has been rebooked for a flight on Wednesday.

Source : CNN

Read More

Travelers in limbo as ash cloud snarls operations

(News Terupdate) - Yvonne Simons was hoping to make it to Amsterdam on Friday to spend time with her father before he has heart surgery next week.

She was scheduled to fly out of Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on Friday afternoon, but after receiving conflicting messages from Continental Airlines and spending hours on the phone Thursday and Friday, her flight was canceled. Simons, executive director of the Anne Frank Center in New York, is also planning to mark the 50th anniversary of the Anne Frank House on April 28.

Simons was upset when she was told she wouldn't be able to get to Amsterdam until Thursday, missing the time with her father. But Friday afternoon, Continental booked her on a Monday flight.

"The lady I spoke to this morning who tried to help me, really did at the time ... she tried from Frankfurt, to Brussels, to Munich, and nothing worked. But she said that many folks were canceling also. To keep trying at home," Simons wrote in an e-mail.

"She called me back saying she had kept checking after she spoke with me and one popped up as we spoke," she said. Simons said she and her father are both very happy she won't miss their visit.

Travelers across the globe haven't all been so fortunate as they seek information about travel in and out of Europe, where airspace in more than a dozen countries has been completely or partially closed by a volcanic ash cloud that drifted in from Iceland.

iReport: Have your plans been disrupted? Share your stories

According to the Air Transport Association of America, U.S. carriers have canceled 196 flights so far Friday between the U.S. and volcano-affected areas in Europe. About 16,000 flights across Europe have been canceled, according to Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel.

Travel chaos in Europe

As of Friday morning, Continental had canceled 57 flights between the U.S. and Europe, spokeswoman Mary Clark said.

American Airlines canceled almost all of its flights to and from the UK and Europe on Friday, totaling 56 flights, according to spokesman Tim Smith.

Simons has a friend stuck in Amsterdam at the other end of the route. He was on the runway Thursday when his flight was canceled, she said. He was told it might be six days before he can return home to New York.

Air travel developments in Europe

U.S. airlines canceled hundreds of flights to Europe on Thursday and pre-canceled many of Friday's departures. Most are permitting travelers to make one-time changes to their tickets free of charge for scheduled travel to Europe in the next few days. Customers with canceled flights will be eligible for refunds.

Some runners scheduled to participate in Monday's Boston Marathon in Massachusetts may not be able to make the race, marathon officials told CNN affiliate WCVB.

Not all travelers are disappointed to be stranded. iReporter Franko Haller, of Zagreb, Croatia, sent CNN a report titled "Stuck in Tokyo ... but I do not mind."

His flight from Tokyo through Paris was canceled.

"I was put on first available flight which is on next Tuesday. Luckily enough, I extended my stay in Tokyo at a hotel with a room view over the Tokyo Bay, as hotel manager assistant was kind enough to give me a special room price because of the situation," Haller wrote on iReport.com.

He's due to start classes and a part-time job, and he and his best friend are hoping to get out of Tokyo before they run out of money, he said. Haller said they haven't been able to get much information from Air France. Still, he's making the best of it.

"As far as it goes, it seems that I'll have to do some pre-course work from Tokyo (LOL)."

Source : CNN

Read More