Ash cloud halts Europe bound flights
PTI
LONDON, APRIL 15
Flying ash from Iceland’s erupting volcano crippled air traffic across northern Europe as hundreds of flights, including to and from India, were grounded in Britain, Ireland and Nordic nations.
Ash clouds drifted from Iceland’s spewing volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier forcing forecasters to announce that air space had been closed over northern Europe “as volcanic ash represented a significant safety threat to aircraft”.
All the London bound flights from India were also grounded leaving thousands of travellers criss-crossing the continents stranded at all major British airports including Heathrow and Gatwick.
More than 150 flights from Heathrow and another 138 from Gatwick were cancelled. In Britain, flights were also suspended from the cities of Manchester and Birmingham as well as Northern Ireland’s Belfast and the Scottish Airports at Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
The National Air Traffic Service said non-emergency flights would not be permitted in British airspace until at least 5 GMT tomorrow.
