UK airspace shutdown until morning

English airspace has been closed to aircraft until 01.00 tomorrow (Saturday) at the earliest following the Icelandic volcanic ash plume.

One family due to fly back to London from South Africa with British Airways today have been told that not only has their flight been cancelled but the soonest they will be able to get an alternative return will be next Thursday.

Bmi flights from Heathrow continued to be cancelled this morning as well as huge numbers of inbound long haul flights into the UK and other northern European airports by airlines including Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Jet Airways. Malaysia Airlines, Qantas and Thai International.

Flybe also cancelled all flights up until 19,00 with the exception of a Belfast-Glasgow return. Some other departures from Scottish airports were planned.

Flybe chief commercial officer Mike Rutter said: "We are doing our utmost to cope with the challenges that these exceptional circumstances have thrown at us.

"We will do everything possible to re-instate flights immediately the UK air space is declared open and safe for air travel as we are fully appreciative of the additional frustration of passengers needing to travel over the weekend and return home at the end of the Easter holidays.

"We will put on extra flights if this is required to repatriate passengers. However, we can implement none of these extra contingency measures until the authorities declare the UK airspace open.

"At the moment it is difficult to forecast how long these unprecedented atmospheric conditions will last however, it would appear there is a reasonable possibility that we may have to cancel further Friday afternoon flights. If this is the case then we will post details on www.flybe.com as soon as this information becomes available. I would like to thank our passengers for their continued patience."

Few Eurostar seats were available and ferry companies had ony limited availability on cross Channel, North Sea and Irish Sea routes.

by Phil Davies
Following a day of chaos for thousands of passengers, the continuing shutdown will cause further lengthy disruption with a massive knock-on effect to airlines with aircraft out of position across Europe.

The chaos was compounded due to people trying to fly home at the end of the Easter school holidays.

One family due to fly back to London from South Africa with British Airways today have been told that not only has their flight been cancelled but the soonest they will be able to get an alternative return will be next Thursday.
BAA said flights were cancelled at all its airports until 01.00 on Saturday. There will be no British Airways' flights from Heathrow and Gatwick until that time.

Ryanair will not operate any flights to/from the UK and Ireland today other than an Irish domestic service which may operate from 13.00. The budget airline cancelled more than 600 flights across Europe yesterday.

Bmi flights from Heathrow continued to be cancelled this morning as well as huge numbers of inbound long haul flights into the UK and other northern European airports by airlines including Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways, Jet Airways. Malaysia Airlines, Qantas and Thai International.

Flybe also cancelled all flights up until 19,00 with the exception of a Belfast-Glasgow return. Some other departures from Scottish airports were planned.

Flybe chief commercial officer Mike Rutter said: "We are doing our utmost to cope with the challenges that these exceptional circumstances have thrown at us.

"We will do everything possible to re-instate flights immediately the UK air space is declared open and safe for air travel as we are fully appreciative of the additional frustration of passengers needing to travel over the weekend and return home at the end of the Easter holidays.

"We will put on extra flights if this is required to repatriate passengers. However, we can implement none of these extra contingency measures until the authorities declare the UK airspace open.

"At the moment it is difficult to forecast how long these unprecedented atmospheric conditions will last however, it would appear there is a reasonable possibility that we may have to cancel further Friday afternoon flights. If this is the case then we will post details on www.flybe.com as soon as this information becomes available. I would like to thank our passengers for their continued patience."

Few Eurostar seats were available and ferry companies had ony limited availability on cross Channel, North Sea and Irish Sea routes.
Many P&O Ferries incoming sailings are already very heavily booked for the next few days with returning Easter holidaymakers, and outward departures have seen a huge surge in bookings since the flight cancellations began.

A spokesman said: "All our services are operating normally but it is important that passengers who do not already hold a reservation check availability before setting out to travel.

"Not surprisingly our call centre and website are under tremendous pressure so we apologise if our response times are somewhat slower than we would wish."

Foot passengers in particular are reminded that there are no foot passenger services on Dover ferry services overnight, due to the lack of onward travel options by either bus or train.

SeaFrance has added a foot passenger service on selected sailings today. The foot passenger service will be available at 11.25, 12.30, 15:50, 16:50 and 20:00. Foot passenger services will also be available on Saturday morning. Space is also available for car passengers on all crossings, the cross channel ferry company said.

Phil Jones, chief executive of Fastnet Line which runs the Swansea-Cork ferry service, said: "Over the past 24 hours, foot passenger bookings have increased by 100%, whilst vehicle traffic has increased by 50%.

"Passengers needing to travel to Ireland can take advantage of the Swansea Cork sailings which leave Swansea at 9pm on Friday, Sunday and Wednesday and return from Cork at the same times on Saturday and Tuesday.

"We do still have some availability on weekend sailings, however with planes grounded until early Saturday morning we're expecting demand to be high for the weekend sailings as an alternative to waiting for flight restrictions to be lifted."

Many P&O Ferries incoming sailings are already very heavily booked for the next few days with returning Easter holidaymakers, and outward departures have seen a huge surge in bookings since the flight cancellations began.

A spokesman said: "All our services are operating normally but it is important that passengers who do not already hold a reservation check availability before setting out to travel.

"Not surprisingly our call centre and website are under tremendous pressure so we apologise if our response times are somewhat slower than we would wish."

Foot passengers in particular are reminded that there are no foot passenger services on Dover ferry services overnight, due to the lack of onward travel options by either bus or train.

SeaFrance has added a foot passenger service on selected sailings today. The foot passenger service will be available at 11.25, 12.30, 15:50, 16:50 and 20:00. Foot passenger services will also be available on Saturday morning. Space is also available for car passengers on all crossings, the cross channel ferry company said.
SeaFrance has added a foot passenger service on selected sailings today. The foot passenger service will be available at 11.25, 12.30, 15:50, 16:50 and 20:00. Foot passenger services will also be available on Saturday morning. Space is also available for car passengers on all crossings, the cross channel ferry company said.

Phil Jones, chief executive of Fastnet Line which runs the Swansea-Cork ferry service, said: "Over the past 24 hours, foot passenger bookings have increased by 100%, whilst vehicle traffic has increased by 50%.

"Passengers needing to travel to Ireland can take advantage of the Swansea Cork sailings which leave Swansea at 9pm on Friday, Sunday and Wednesday and return from Cork at the same times on Saturday and Tuesday.

"We do still have some availability on weekend sailings, however with planes grounded until early Saturday morning we're expecting demand to be high for the weekend sailings as an alternative to waiting for flight restrictions to be lifted."

A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: "National Air Traffic Services (NATS) have now confirmed that no flights will be permitted in UK controlled airspace until 01:00 on Saturday 17th April, at the earliest, due to the volcanic ash drifting across the country from Iceland.

"As a result, all arriving and departing flights at Manchester remain suspended until further notice.

"Our advice to passengers is to continue to check with their airline for the latest information.

"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to passengers for their continuing patience and cooperation in these unprecedented circumstances.

"Although we're not expecting the airport to be busy today, we will have extra customer service and office staff in the terminals to give whatever assistance and support is possible to our passengers.

"We would once again like to apologise to passengers for the inconvenience caused and thank all airport staff for their efforts over the last two days."


"As a result, all arriving and departing flights at Manchester remain suspended until further notice.

"Our advice to passengers is to continue to check with their airline for the latest information.

"We would like to express our sincere gratitude to passengers for their continuing patience and cooperation in these unprecedented circumstances.

"Although we're not expecting the airport to be busy today, we will have extra customer service and office staff in the terminals to give whatever assistance and support is possible to our passengers.

"We would once again like to apologise to passengers for the inconvenience caused and thank all airport staff for their efforts over the last two days."

Greg Fieldgate, FCm Travel Solutions head of account management, said: "We are doing everything we can to ensure our clients are looked after as well as possible in the circumstances.

"The task is huge because so many flights have been cancelled, but this is where a TMC really comes into its own - this is our area of expertise and we have all staff working round the clock to help travellers as much as possible.

"As soon as we heard the news this morning about the volcanic eruption affecting all inbound and outbound UK flights, we immediately issued an email alert at 8.40am to all clients making them aware of the situation and advising that we would contact them again with further information as soon as possible. Since then we have sent out four further alerts every two hours updating clients as and when more information comes to hand.

"We also ran a travel report to identify which clients are booked to fly today, or any time between 16th and 19th April. This showed that FCm has around 5,000 passengers departing or returning over that period.

"Our consultants are pro-actively going through that list contacting the travel booker or traveller regarding their cancelled flight.

"We are arranging alternatives by rail or car hire where possible, or discussing options for re-booking flights once the disruption ceases.

"Clients who are stranded overseas are being helped with hotel accommodation and billback options if they are low on currency. Clients who are stuck at airports in the UK are also being helped with accommodation.

"We are also in touch with airlines to find out about their re-booking policies.

"Insurance policies do not cover clients for cancelled flights because this is a natural disaster. Some airlines are being flexible, others are not, so we are advising clients accordingly."

"The task is huge because so many flights have been cancelled, but this is where a TMC really comes into its own - this is our area of expertise and we have all staff working round the clock to help travellers as much as possible.

"As soon as we heard the news this morning about the volcanic eruption affecting all inbound and outbound UK flights, we immediately issued an email alert at 8.40am to all clients making them aware of the situation and advising that we would contact them again with further information as soon as possible. Since then we have sent out four further alerts every two hours updating clients as and when more information comes to hand.

"We also ran a travel report to identify which clients are booked to fly today, or any time between 16th and 19th April. This showed that FCm has around 5,000 passengers departing or returning over that period.

"Our consultants are pro-actively going through that list contacting the travel booker or traveller regarding their cancelled flight.

"We are arranging alternatives by rail or car hire where possible, or discussing options for re-booking flights once the disruption ceases.

"Clients who are stranded overseas are being helped with hotel accommodation and billback options if they are low on currency. Clients who are stuck at airports in the UK are also being helped with accommodation.

"We are also in touch with airlines to find out about their re-booking policies.

"Insurance policies do not cover clients for cancelled flights because this is a natural disaster. Some airlines are being flexible, others are not, so we are advising clients accordingly."

Originally published 16 Apr 2010 at: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/398/f/5923/s/a012e09/l/0L0Stravelmole0N0Cs…