ASH LATEST: Airlines scramble to lift stranded passengers
LONDON – Air traffic in Europe should be back to "almost 100 percent" later today after six days of unprecedented travel chaos, the air traffic agency Eurocontrol said.
Asia Pacific airlines have been scrambling to arrange as many flights as possible to pick up passengers but tens of thousands remain stranded around the world after ash from an Icelandic volcano caused the shutdown.
The airline industry says it has lost US $1.7bn and has called for compensation from European governments.
Cathay Pacific Airways has resumed normal services to and from Europe. The airline said it is doing its utmost to bring stranded passengers to their destinations as soon as possible.
Nine flights to Europe and three Hong Kong-bound flights from Europe have departed, carrying over 3,000 and 1,000 passengers respectively. However, the airline expects it will take weeks to clear the backlog.
Due to the backlog, Cathay will not accept new bookings to Europe before May 6.
In total 37 Emirates flights have departed from Dubai to Europe, including 12 to the UK and seven to Germany
Emirates has advised that all passengers from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth that hold confirmed bookings for travel to the UK, Germany and all other Emirates’ destinations in Europe are being accepted for travel.
Emirates’ customers affected by the disruption can cancel their booking or change their onward destination without charge. All re-issue and cancellation fees will be waived while the disruption is ongoing.
Each day of the disruption has cost Emirates approximately $10 million, while nearly 100,000 people have been disrupted across the carrier’s network on the back of hundreds of flight cancellations.
Singapore Airlines has returned to a full European flight schedule with immediate effect. Customers booked on scheduled flights to and from Europe will be able to travel as planned.
Ian Jarrett
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