That must be a nightmare for you Cazzholly. Could you get your doctor to fax out a prescription for your father which he could get made up out there if he hasn't got a copy of it with him?

Personally, id rather have my holiday cancelled before we travelled than to be stuck somewhere not knowing when or how we will get home. We are not due to fly out till June so although im concerned, im not getting myself worried just yet. It must be so stressful for so many people. I think the comment made by someone about how many of us turn up at the airport on the last day of our holidays with only a few euros left is so true, especially in my case . Ill make sure there are funds in my bank account in future just in case. I know we always say how nice it would be to get stuck for a few days extra when we are away, but how many of us really mean it

I think that the people stranded abroad (and indeed people stranded in the UK who want to get home as well) need priority before new departures are made. Its also going to get worse before it gets better, especially because the summer holiday season truely starts now so departures will increase significantly as well.

Best of luck to all of those stuck and awaiting their holidays.

Latest info on the BA website is that they have now had to cancel ALL longhaul services departing from the UK on today as well as ALL inbound longhaul flights due to arrive before 12:00 UK local time tomorrow.

Latest from NATS as of 15:00:

Nats (INVALID URL wrote:

The situation regarding the volcanic eruption in Iceland remains dynamic and the latest information from the Met Office shows that the situation will continue to be variable.

Based on the latest Met Office information, part of Scottish and Northern Irish airspace including Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh airports will continue to be available from 1900 today to 0100 tomorrow, Wednesday 21 April, and also south to Newcastle Airport. Glasgow and Teesside airports will additionally become available in this time period. Restrictions will remain in place over the rest of UK airspace below 20,000ft.

Flights above the ash cloud are now permitted in the UK; between 1900 today and 0100 tomorrow, this will enable aircraft movements above 20,000ft in UK airspace.

We will continue to monitor Met Office information and the situation is likely to change during the course of the day. We will make a further statement at approximately 2100 today.

NATS is maintaining close dialogue with the Met Office and with the UK's safety regulator, the CAA, in respect of the international civil aviation policy we follow in applying restrictions to use of airspace.

We are working closely with Government, airports and airlines, and airframe and aero engine manufacturers to get a better understanding of the effects of the ash cloud and to seek solutions.

Gower

Incoming BA Flights ?

19:15 BA102 CALGARY EXPECTED 1941
19:20 BA082 ACCRA EXPECTED 2107
19:20 BA218 DENVER EXPECTED 1933
19:35 BA162 TEL AVIV EXPECTED 1930
19:40 BA238 BOSTON EXPECTED 2055
20:00 BA038 BEIJING EXPECTED 2001
20:05 BA084 VANCOUVER EXPECTED 2009
21:30 BA282 LOS ANGELES EXPECTED 2134
22:15 BA198 MUMBAI EXPECTED 2324
22:40 BA006 TOKYO EXPECTED 2326

John

All those BA flights have now been diverted to either Newcastle, Barcelona or Madrid.

Hi all

Its awful to hear some of the stories out there from those stuck and I hope everyone gets home safe and well.

I am due to fly out to Turkey from Glasgow on May 5th, flights with thomas cook and holiday with media travel. I - as i always do - planned to get my holiday insurance a few days before I go from the post office and now have found out that I am not covered at all if this Volcanic Ash continues. BUMMER!! Cant believe how silly I have been, from now on I will certinaly be buying insurance at time of booking.

I saw the Holiday Expert on GMTV today saying that if and when the airports are all open again and running fully those will holidays booked will still go out as planned at the times etc booked. BUT what if there are still lots of people stranded, is it likely we will be re-sceduled? My dad has had to re-book his holiday for June.I cant get that time off

Thanks everyone..

Bet the passengers are hoping for Newcastle

John

My daughter is stranded in Singapore for the 5 day!
The airline paid for the hotel for the first 2 nights but they then got turfed out as hotel was full.
They seem to have been abandoned by the airline and they have been to the Consulate,airline office and Tourist information who sent them to a hotel which the taxi driver informed them was in the red light district at the cost of 200 SD
They turned round and eventually managed to get another hotel in a reasonable part of the island.
They have spent nearly £1,000 on hotels,food and taxis and I dont think the insurance will cover it.
They have tried to get on one of the 2 flights to Barcelona today but they are full.
They have been told they have until May 2nd to rebook their flight to another airport(They flew from Heathrow)without a charge.
Its becoming a nightmare and the uncertainty of it is making my daughter ill with the stress as she is trying to keep the 3 children calm.
If they can get to Spain or Germany my son will drive down to pick them up.
I am due to go on holiday to Turkey on May 2nd but I will give my holiday up if it means bringing home all the stranded passengers.

I am due to fly to Malaga from Manchester on Thursday afternoon, if the airport is open but the south of England is closed I presume a plane can take off, climb to a safe height then overfly the shut zones. My question is what area around an airport is required for this and are there dedicated climb / descend traffic lanes if so how far do they extend from Manchester. Must be a few pilots or controllers out there who could answer this for me.

Thanks Ed

We could go on and talking about this but it wont change the situation over night.
If you haven't gone away yet, you are in a better position than others, therefore, you will have to bear with it and just wait nearer the time of your original date of departure.

Ed

No! You cannot fly over the shut down zone because it extends all the way up - the main ash cloud is at the same level the planes cruise at. In fact some planes have been allowed to fly low under it but you won't in a commercial jet.

Just waiting for the word. LOL well the wife is.

Does anyone know what 'deflation' means? This report cam from the ICelandic Met Office at 1330

"Latest results from GPS stations around Eyjafjallajökull show deflation associated with the eruption. This does suggest that the volume of eruptive material which has been ejected already, relieves pressure off the volcano"

Decline

OK Jimmy, just come down here and you can moor up in Benfleet Creek. We (or rather you) can then row across to La Goulette and catch the train from there

I know Virgin are not taking any new bookings from April 19th to May 1st and basically those stranded will be put on these flights in this time frame if airspace is opened. Virgin aren't rescheduling they are just trying not to fill up their planes with new bookings so they can get the those stranded home. My other half is still stuck out there and running out of money. His employer is basically giving him unpaid leave which means not only is he spending money to get by out there , we are also loosing money from his wage

ryanair have cancelled durham tees valley-alicante thursday 22nd

Going back to the no fly zone in the UK airspace and overflights...

The main problem with the volcanic ash stems from a lack of knowledge on how varying degrees of density of ash affects aircraft. BA009 flew through a dense cloud of ash which caused all 4 engines to burn out. It was only due to the amount of glass build up within the engines that enabled them to restart once the build up was dislodged.

We have no other significant measurement therefore the general rule of thumb since that time has always been that no aircraft should fly through any density of volcanic ash. Therefore NATS has closed airspace. The ash cloud may be of a light enough density so as not to affect aircraft but no one knows a safe density therefore NATS have been grounding all aircraft over the past week.

Was that the right decision?
I don't know. NATS doesn't know. The CAA doesn't know and who's going to risk it to find out? OK, the airlines sent jets up to see the consequences but that was a risky move which could have ended in fatalities. As it happens it didn't but NATS can't take the risk, human life is too precious to be discarded so flippantly for the sake of keeping the airlines flying.

The ash cloud is currently around 20,000' as most jets fly at a higher altitude than that NATS can allow flights to over fly the UK on route to the Americas as they always do, hoewever, descending through the cloud to land or ascending through the cloud to a higher altitude could cause problems for these aircraft therefore NATS has to take the view that it cannot be allowed to happen.

As I stated in my previous post I would not like to be the one who made a decision to allow aircraft movements in that airspace only to face a catastrophe and a backlash if the decision was a wrong one.

It's a hard call for anyone and mounting pressure from the airlines/airports/government and passengers wishing to head off on holiday should not affect NATS decision.

So to sum up...
The general consensus in the airline industry is if there is Volcanic ash in the air flights should not be allowed in the airspace where the cloud is. No mention of densities, just a basic no fly zone. Further testing in the cloud may give us some idea for the future but a rule is a rule and must be adhered to for safety's sake.

Moving on...One point that is annoying me is the airlines clambering for money from governments. My personal opinion is that the government should be looking into relieving the stress for passengers stranded by covering their costs and not the airlines.

Again this is personal opinion and not that of HT

Van