Volcanic eruption in Iceland stops air traffic to London

Kingfisher Airlines cancelled its flights to London for the second consecutive day while Air India rescheduled its flights to London, Toronto and New York as airspace was closed over several North European airports due to drifting ash from a volcano in Iceland.

Kingfisher flights from New Delhi to London and from London to New Delhi were cancelled. Also, a flight from Mumbai to London and London to Mumbai were cancelled.

"In view of continuous restriction over UK airspace and closure of London's Heathrow airport, Kingfisher airlines cancelled its flights from Mumbai and New Delhi to London on Friday," Kingfisher spokesperson Prakash Mir Puri said in New Delhi.

Air India has rescheduled its long haul flights to Toronto, New York and London till 2pm on Friday.

"Due to airspace restrictions, Air India's flight from Delhi to New York, Mumbai to New York, Mumbai-London, Delhi-London-Toronto, Delhi-Frankfurt, Mumbai-Frankfurt-Chicago and Ahmedabad-Frankfurt-Newark will leave after 2 pm today," an AI spokesperson said.

On Thursady, Kingfisher cancelled all its flights to London from Mumbai and Delhi while Jet cancelled two flights from the two Indian metropolises and one from London to Delhi.

Passengers have been advised to call the airline office to know their flight schedule before proceeding for airports, officials said.

The British Air Traffic Control has prohibited aircraft entering certain parts of airspace over the UK as flying ash compromised visibility and debris can be sucked into the engines of aircraft.

The drifting ash clouds also paralysed all the airports in Norway, Finland and Sweden as the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier erupted on Wednesday again for a second time in less than a month.

Earlier report:

A volcanic eruption in Iceland on Wednesday afternoon spewed smoke and ash over many parts of northern Europe, disrupting air traffic.

Britain, in particular, was substantially affected. All flights into and out of the UK were cancelled for safety reasons, with all major airports ordered closed. The restrictions would be reviewed on Friday.

The potential threat to airplanes from volcanic ashes is more than just a perceived one. In 1982, a Boeing 747 operated by British Airways lost power in all four engines when flying at 37,000 ft. The flight avoided a major catastrophe and it was discovered that the cause was volcanic ashes only after it had safely landed.

As many as 14 direct flights to London from India were cancelled by various airlines. They said any decision on the flights to be operated on Friday would be taken only then.

However, flights from India to the other major destinations of Paris and Frankfurt weren't affected.

"We will not be able to operate services from (the affected) airports until further notice. Customers booked to travel on a cancelled flight can claim a full refund or rebook their flight for a later date," said a release from British Airways.

Since it was not certain whether the restrictions on flights would continue on Friday as well - there were reports that the visibility and safety problems could continue for 36 hours, which would mean till well into evening - airlines were declining to give any clear assurance.

Travel agencies are advising leisure travelers to avoid England and Nothern Europe for the time being. "Most people go to the UK for higher studies, business trips or to meet friends and relatives. Very few go for leisure. We are advising the leisure travellers to consider other locations and suggesting they avoid Northern Europe," said Subash Goyal, chairman, Stic travel group.

"All flights for have been cancelled. Airlines are permitting rescheduling without any extra charges. We are communicating with the people who booked with us and reviewing their travel plans," said Sabina Chopra, co-founder, of Yatra.com a travel portal.

"If the grounding does continue for another day, we will likely refund passengers who may want to cancel or provide the option of flying to Paris," said a spokesperson for Air India. Jet and Kingfisher Airlines were working on similar plans.

Flights to London constitute seven per cent of the total international capacity from India, according to data available from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. The worst effected would be British Airways, which has a 39 per cent share of the capacity, followed by Jet which has 24 per cent. Then comes AI (21 per cent), Kingfisher (seven) and Virgin (five), says Capa.