Volcanic ash: Misery continues for stranded passengers

Apr 18 2010 by Jasbir Authi, Sunday Mercury

THOUSANDS of British passengers were last night still stranded overseas as the ash cloud from Iceland’s erupting volcano continued to ground all flights across most of Europe.

And the situation could get worse because the ash refuses to budge, held in place over the British Isles by a high pressure weather system. Some experts warn it could last all week.

Forecasters say there is no sign that a change in wind direction will clear British airspace, and scientists warn eruptions from Mount Eyjafjallajokull could continue for months to come.

More than 17,000 flights were cancelled over the weekend and the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday warned that the situation was worsening, leading airlines to axe Sunday services.

A decision on Monday’s flights is likely to be made at around midday, but there is little optimism that the lockdown will be lifted.

The no-fly zone across Europe looks certain to remain in force into the beginning of the week, placing more strain on road, rail and ferry networks already struggling to cope.

British Airways today cancelled all long and short-haul flights in and out of the UK.

“We are keeping our flying schedule under constant review and will aim to give customers as much notice as possible once we receive more information from NATS,” said a BA spokesman.

Flybe, which operates from 70 European airports, said no decision would be made on Monday’s services until noon today.

Meanwhile, the misery went on for the many people trapped abroad.

Adele Sanders, 26, from Walsall flew to Poland for a birthday treat and was due back to celebrate with family on Friday. Now she faces a five-day wait in Wroclaw with boyfriend Danny McNab.

“We have no money left, apart from a bit we used to book a hostel for five nights to see us through,” she said last night.

“We aren’t coping very well. It has been very stressful, worrying about money, We are both hungry, too, as we are scrimping.

“It’s difficult here, as we have no understanding of the language, and not many people speak English.

“We have heard nothing from Ryanair, apart from that they probably won’t refund us. We can’t believe it.

“We are so broke and distraught.”

Sunday Mercury journalist Jonny Greatrex, 26, from Birmingham, is stranded in Madrid after a holiday with teaching assistant girlfriend Amy Williams, 24, also from the city.

“We were due to fly back with Easyjet on Friday, but the flight was cancelled.” he said. “We have now been told that we cannot get a flight until Wednesday at the earliest.

“We’ve looked at trying to get a train back to France, and then on to England. The trouble is that they are all booked up because so many others are in the same position as us.

“All in all, with the extra hotels and food, I expect this is going to cost us about £500 but there’s just nothing we can do about it.’ We just hope that we manage to get home soon.”

Gary Cooper, from Tamworth, was on holiday in Malta with his partner when airspace across Europe was closed. Now he says he is stuck on a holiday he didn’t enjoy in the first place.