Okay, my flights out of Switzerland have been cancelled.

The BBC site is blocked but this one isn't.

Can someone tell me how long before planes will be flying again please.

currently 1800BST being quoted

Yea, 18:00, but depends if the eruption continues.

Can you stay another night in Switzerland? |Maybe not ideal, but possibly preferable to having to deal with the chaos at the airport trying to get a flight back later today.

Why is the BBC banned in Switzerland? Has Robert Mugabe taken control?

Wouldn't bet on them being open at 18:00 – surely it will take ages for the ash to disperse enough ?

I think you may find it's heading your way
UK airports may open again today – although a guy on the radio has just said he doubts it – you may find European airspace affected later

This is just crap.

[selfish]Me and Mrs. S are booked to fly out of MCR to Paris CDG on Saturday morning. We've got two nights booked at the Paris Pullman, Tour Eiffel and a pissing volcano in Iceland could eff it all up.[/selfish]

Well I've just been quoted 'possibly days' by someone at BA I've just spoke to, my boss is stuck as well, and I wanted the weekend off.
Depends on which way the wind blows and further eruptions.

[quoteThis is just crap.

[selfish]Me and Mrs. S are booked to fly out of MCR to Paris CDG on Saturday morning. We've got two nights booked at the Paris Pullman, Tour Eiffel and a pissing volcano in Iceland could eff it all up.[/selfish][/quote]

Cancel flight and get eurostar?

derek – too late to buy travel insurance?

A friend did have an early flight from Amsterdam -> Manchester – he's being quoted Saturday morning as his replacement flight time.

derek – too late to buy travel insurance?

There is no way that any insurance that you buy now would cover you for delay/cancellation due to this volcanic eruption.

Might start at 18:00 but there'll be a long line of planes waiting to take off so you'll be joining a big queue. Disruption like this takes days to clear up as planes are in the wrong positions (like the plane taking you back from Switzerland is still sitting at London ready to make the journey across).

derek – too late to buy travel insurance?

Girl at work is supposed to fly to New Zealand tomorrow – current line from their insurance is that they aren't covering the volcano…

Insurance is such a con.

I do not think you will get an idea of how long the disruption will last until this evening , certainly I would be planning what to do till Monday .
Trains/Eurostar will be totally over loaded so I would not bother.
Maybe hire/borrow/buy a bike and do some touring for the weekend ?

We're supposed to be flying today to Edinburgh to visit our homesick daughter. Everything cancelled but at least Flybe have offered a full refund. So a 6 hour drive instead 🙁

If I were you WCA

I'd get myself over the border into France & hire a car – to be off-hired in Calais – & jump on a ferry
I did that once when the French air traffic lot went on strike

Well you learn something new everyday – apparently there's Volcanic ash advisory centers! http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation/vaac/

Insurance is such a con

Mmm. You pay them money, they sort you out depending on the terms of the policy. Terrible.

depending on the terms of the policy

Which invariably makes the insurance not fit for purpose in the first place…

Planes and volcanic ash

Clicky

Ive been told it should be fine tommorrow via london air traffic control
and we have an aircraft we wanted test fly today which is now grounded ie costing £££.

Never even thought about contacting the insurance people. Just rang Airmiles/Lufthansa and they are giving me my money back. (Shame that DB don't want to do the same for my train tickets onwards from Frankfurt).

Apparently travel insurance is meant to be the most complicated contract people enter into.

Having once attempted to claim for lost luggage and being told I could only claim for stuff if I had original proof of purchase (anyone keep them for your clothes???) I'm strongly tempted not to bother renewing our annual policy….

If I was looking like I was stuck in switzerland for the weekend I'd probably be hiring a car and driving to the alps for a short break 🙂

I've got the answer!
If we can just power up & reverse all the wind turbines, we can clear it by afternoon tea! sorted

Just endured 30mins of BBC news on this…..people get so frustrated these days when there's no-one to blame 🙄

volcanic ash disrupts flights, my arse.

if it was 1st April the reason would be obvious, however the only logical explanation is a massive terror plot that the government is covering up so it doesnt interupt tonights 'big, live, tv drivel debate'

Is the ash on a conveyor belt?

Having been a victim of the recent Sea France strike, I fully expect the French will use this to their advantage and walk out again!

[selfish]Me and Mrs. S are booked to fly out of MCR to Paris CDG on Saturday morning. We've got two nights booked at the Paris Pullman, Tour Eiffel and a pissing volcano in Iceland could eff it all up.[/selfish]

Hey, think yourself lucky – you aren't stuck in Atlanta Georgia, and worrying about having to spend an extra few days in the land of mediocre cheese and crap beer. My flight is tomorrow, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Joe

well done folks!, not one of you has said how 'its all the fault of that one-eyed scotch git Gordon-bloody-Brown'
Whats Camerons policy on stopping vulcanism? 🙂

[img]http://www.creditnet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Question-mark.jpg[/img]

latest from the BBC:

"No non-emergency flights allowed in or out of UK before 0600 BST tomorrow at earliest, Nats says"

It's gonna be carnage

Found these to bits of info on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_9 (When the 1982 incident occured over the Indian Ocean to the British Airways 747)

Fact No1: "Aircraft Ability"

Without engine thrust, a 747-200 has a glide ratio of approximately 15:1 meaning it can glide forward 15 kilometres for every kilometre it drops. The flight crew quickly determined that the aircraft was capable of gliding for 23 minutes and covering 91 nautical miles (169 km) from its flight level of 11,000 metres (36,000 ft)

That's pretty impressive for what essentially becomes a very large tin of sardines!

Fact No2: "Flight Engineers Reaction"

At approximately 13:42 UTC (20:42 Jakarta time), engine number four began surging and soon flamed out. The flight crew immediately performed the engine shutdown drill, quickly cutting off fuel supply and arming the fire extinguishers. Less than a minute later, at 13:43 UTC (20:43 Jakarta time), engine two surged and flamed out. Within seconds, and almost simultaneously, engines one and three flamed out prompting the flight engineer to exclaim, "I don't believe it – all four engines have failed!

I can only imagine what I would have said in the same situation! Something with lots of swear words and cursing – followed by me looking for my parachute, or in the abscence of that the biggest golfing umbrella I could find 🙂

I´m stuck in Iceland with a school group. Meant to be doing SSEC this weekend. Arse.

What's the view like?!

I am now booked on a flight to Zurich – Luxembourg – London City, Zurich – Heathrow, Geneva – Heathrow and Basel – London City.

All tomorrow at various times. Let's hope one of them flies.

The view is a huge grey cloud in the air. It´s not very dramatic really. Very boring here.

Is it the bankers who bankrupted Iceland trying to throw up a huge smoke screen to hide their misdemeanors?

Is it just me that smells conspiracy. Ash that noone can see stops
ALL flights over UK airspace.

Hmmm ?