Volcanic ash holds up flights for 6 hours

After a six-hour disruption due to restrictions over Heathrow and Gatwick in UK,most airlines were able to operate flights to London on Monday.

After a six-hour disruption due to restrictions over Heathrow and Gatwick in UK,most airlines were able to operate flights to London on Monday. Early morning today,Air India had to cancel its 2.20 am flight to London because of volcanic ash over European airspace.

Kingfisher Airlines also cancelled its London-bound flights on Monday. Airport sources said that on Sunday,Emirates airline AK 503 had asked a few London bound passengers to deplane because of the European air space closure.

I have rescheduled my appointment in London, said Dev Alapati,a passenger from Hyderabad who was on the Air India flight that was cancelled early on Monday morning. Several passengers including Alapati were put up at a hotel in Andheri to be accommodated on subsequent flights.

An Air India source said that on Monday,the airline had cancelled its Amritsar-London-Toronto flight. However,the Delhi¿London and Mumbai-London flights on Tuesday morning would be on time,he added.

We are using a B-777 jumbo jet aircraft on the Mumbai-London route to accommodate the stranded passengers, said an airline spokesperson.

Eurocontrol said that on Monday,the number of flights on European airspace were around 28,000,1,000 less

than normal. This uncertainty has led to a blip in the numbers of passengers,especially those on holiday,headed to Europe. Last week,at least three families re-booked with us a holiday to Australia and New Zealand instead of Europe, said a travel agent Jay Bhatia.

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Meanwhile,British Airways cabin crew is going on strike from Tuesday. An airline spokesperson said that across the world only 70 per cent of the flights would be on schedule.

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