greenshoes: Hope your other half gets home soon.

kevin shute: Sorry to hear your flight has been cancelled.

Update on me is I phoned Stena to ask about provisional booking and pay on the day but not possible. Lady i spoke to was helpful and said they do have space on the ferry we would want to be on but can't guarantee there being space if we turn up on the day. Trains from Stranraer aren't very regular. Trains from Holyhead are more frequent and are timed so that they leave about 1-1.5 hours after the ferries dock. Irish Ferries website is saying there's limited space for foot passengers on the Jonathan Swift (fast ferry) and space available on the Ulysses (cruise ferry but very big). Plan is if we find out Thursday that flight is cancelled, I'll phone Stena first to ask about getting on the 1145 ferry and then get train to Peterborough. Other plan is bus at 0230 friday morning down to Dublin and get 0805 ferry, then train to station nearest my parents.

If that doesn't work then I might change the flight to going over next Monday which'll still give us plenty of time at my parents and possibly still get to Skegness to see our friends there although we'll miss the family do on saturday.

I'm thankful that I'm not stranded abroad somewhere with money running out and that I do have an alternative method of transport.

We are due to fly to Turkey on 25th May. Hope this will be resolved by then but if it's not will we be able to claim our money back or re-book. I cannot switch my holidays at work now so will still have to take the same two weeks and perhaps holiday in England. I will be gutted ad also worried about losing my money, we'll not have much to spend on a holiday over here as we were AI so havn't bothered saving spends. I want my holiday, it's been booked nearly a year.

Cazz,
If you booked a package, I assume you did as AI, through Thomson or similar Tour Operator then you will be covered for a full refund if flights are still suspended and the TO cancels the holiday.

If you booked flights and hotel independently then you need to speak to the airline/hotel nearer your departure date.

As the situation is constantly changing it will be difficult for you to get any reasonable answers from the people you booked with at this time.

HTH

Van

cate - who's told you about a 11:45 ferry to Holyhead? it isn't in their timetable and they've even updated the site because of the extra traffic.

Thanks Vanlaywan, At least I'll get refunded. I'll miss out on a holiday abroad if the situation gets any worse as I cannot chnage my hols and neither can my hubby. Three weeks in England.............with loads of bikini's and shorts! In May?!

Some companies are being very good at absorbing the hit rather than passing it on to their clients. I think most of the airlines will either re-book passengers or give a refund and Alpha Rooms are either cancelling hotels and refunding money or re-booking passengers, who will only have to pay extra if prices have gone up. I spoke to Gatwick Express this afternoon regarding my transfer to and from the airport and they will extend validity for 28 days and even A2B, my transfer from Tunis to Sousse, will rebook or refund. I was really impressed and greatly relieved not to have to fight my insurance company again as I had booked d.i.y. as usual. Anyone else d.i.y. I advise you to have a look at the websites of your suppliers.

What are NATS and the Airlines going to do if this drags on for the next 2 years like it might with further eruptions and winds ? Nothing flying in and out ?.. no trade and export ?... people not booking holidays abroad as you just can't tell if you will get to fly or not ?.. airlines and all its bits and bobs (catering, cleaning, fuel suppliers/deliveries, hospitality, cabin crew, shops at the airport, cleaners, taxis etc) all going bust?.. the economy of many countries going down the pan as tourisim falls, trade between countries becomes useless?... many food stuffs and perishables stop being imported / exported as they can't survive a long slow boat trip (I believe somewhere like Kenya?? has just scrapped millions of pounds worth of cut flowers as they can't get them here).... how long will it go on before money and the economy suddenly means "we have had a study done and its now ok to fly through ash as long as its density is below....." ?

The 1145 ferry is from Belfast-Stranraer and is the first one we'll try as it means leaving home at just gone 6am and getting to my parents around 12 midnight. The other sail & rail alternative is leave home at just gone 2am to be at the Irish Ferry dock in time for the 0805 ferry and being at my parents at just gone 2000.

Van - interesting news about BA009. It explains why BA102 from Calgary went over my house 3 times before making a dash for Heathrow at the same time 218 from Denver and 84 from Vancouver suddenly went into holding patterns over the IoM. 218, 274 (Las vegas) and 284 (San Fran) now all on final approach to Shannon. 216 (Miami) diverted just off Lands End and appears to be heading there as well as does 238 (Boston)

I wonder what Willie "of course it's safe, the Government is wasting our money " Walsh will have to say.

PS Who gave me the flightradar24 website - I've got things I ought to be doing!!!

late edit :sorry van, I've just realised you meant the Jakarta Incident 3 years ago! But all those flights did go weird as you posted!

PS Who gave me the flightradar24 website - I've got things I ought to be doing!!!

Steve

catre - sorry, I thought you were talking about Holyhead. there is an overnight option from Dublin, try buseirrean's direct service to Leeds, about 20:00 from Dublin Busarus. It goes on the Stena ferry but they have their own ticket block and you can leave your luggage on the coach whilst on board. The through fare to Leeds is actually cheaper than the ferry fare on it's own. Easy train connection's Leeds -Peterborough.

Breaking News: The CAA have just made a press statement that from 2200 this evening, much of the airspace over the UK will reopen in phases, but with some restrictions. They mantain it was the correct decision to close airspace in the interest of safety based on known information. However after consultation with leading experts, research and test flights, the rules are being relaxed but with increased inspections and maintenance schedules of aircraft. After every flight, aircraft engines will be inspected. Airports should start to reopen and resume operations later this evening.

Darren

LATEST: NEWS:

The Civil Aviation Authority will phase out UK airspace restrictions from 2200 BST

Taken from BBC NEWS PAGE

Ed

4 BA flights in pattern heading for Shannon airport. Going to be busy there eh?

They also just announced that on SKY news! Fingers crossed everyone.

I've got everything crossed here, hoping to fly to Lanzarote on Sunday

We are due to go to Ovacik 21st may with thomas cook, looks like this will not happen but better safe than sorry! i cannot believe that some people think that the whole thing is an overreaction from the authorities.If god forbid anything did go wrong, would people say well it was worth it for two weeks in the sun?
One thing that does concern me is that if the volcano shuts down in a few weeks time what holidays are going to be available to those who can reschedule and at what cost i suspect that all the companies that are loosing money bigstyle at this moment will want to claw as much back as possible.

Alan

That's good news, hopefully the wind and pressure will be such that airspace will be able to stay open.

14 BA aircraft on way back to home base in UK and have been flying for hours.

COBRA meeting today.

BA CEO in meeting.

Restrictions lifted.

Perhaps I am adding 2 and 2 together and making it 5 mistakingly?

Mark