Iceland’s volcano stirs up travel plans, grounding all flights in the UK

Flights are grounded, people are scrambling and the news is all over it. Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull first started sputtering back to life on Tuesday and now it has grounded flights in all of Britain and most of Scandinavia. What can you do if you’re flight’s been cancelled? How long is the ash expected to stay?

News and weather forecasters are doing their best to cover the activities of Iceland’s volcano but what concerns travellers now is first, “I’ve got a cancelled flight” and second, “What can I do?”. Currently all flights in the UK have been grounded until at least 6pm (local time), at the earliest. If you are flying tonight, check the latest updates to see if your flight is cancelled before heading to the airport.

Currently the majority of airlines are being as accommodating as possible due to the unusual and rare weather conditions, offing passengers what they can: refunds or re-bookings.

• British Airways is offering a full refund to their passengers with cancelled flights, free re-booking on another British Airways flight or other BA franchise flight withing 14 days of their original flight date.

• EasyJet is offering those with cancelled flights the choice of either a full refund or a free transfer to book another flight on the same route within 30 days of their original flight date.

• Ryanair has informed passengers on cancelled flights that they can transfer to the next available flight free of charge or may apply for a refund by filling out a form at the airport check-in desk, by using the call centre or online.

Some predict the ash will continue to effect airspace until tomorrow and even into the weekend. So if you are planning on travelling to the UK or from, stay informed. If you are travelling domestically, try taking a different mode of transportation, it might in this case be faster. Eurostar has upped its services to accommodate the increased number of passengers trying to find alternative routes to their destinations, including lines through the Channel Tunnel.

Airspace is also closed in Norway, Finland, Denmark, Netherlands and parts of Sweden.

As for Iceland, few of their flights have been cancelled and their airports operate as per usual.

Image source: cbc.ca/news