Volcano wreaks havoc on European flights

A volcano eruption in Iceland has closed airspace around northern Europe, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.

The volcano began erupting on April 14 below the Eyjafjallajokull glacier, hurling a 6-11 kilometre plume of ash into the atmosphere which is spreading to the southeast, forcing Britain to cancel flights in its air space except for emergencies. Airports in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Finland have also seen major flight cancellations, which are expected to stretch for the next 48 hours.

As a result, a number of airlines are allowing passengers to cancel or change their bookings without incurring fees, while a number of passengers already in the countries affected are being accommodated in hotels. Qantas has advised on that flights to London and Frankfurt on April 14 were cancelled, while QF10 and QF2 were cancelled on April 15.