A friend of mine is en route back from Oz

[pericat]

What will happen to those planes - will it be a case of landing at the nearest airport and staying put

[NoMercy]

More than likely, Peri. x

[pericat]

Poor him - I sent a text to find out where he was but have no answer yet !

[NoMercy]

What's his departure time?

[lardhelmet]

I've obviously missed something big -sorry. What's happened to these planes?

[pericat]

Not sure - I got a text at half five this morning saying he was on his way. He was originally due in tomorrow morn - think he's coming back through kul or Singapore

[pericat]

It's the airports closing cause of the volcano lard

[NoMercy]

Lard.. due to volcanic debris in the atmosphere, the vast majority of western Europe is a no fly zone for the time being.

[lardhelmet]

OMG - I did hear something about that - so sorry. How long do they think it will take to clear (or whatever's got to happen)?

[pericat]

They're saying it could be the weekend but I don't know really

[dothawkes31]

what has happened? what volcano?

[Buenchico]

Flights will probably not take off unless it's been confirmed that they can land at (or close to) their scheduled destination. So, for example, someone travelling back from Oz might be on a flight which refuels in Bahrain, resulting in the plane being held there until further notice.

Planes which were already in the air when UK airspace was closed were diverted to convenient airports. Many long-haul services were routed into Frankfurt, where they'll stay until they can continue their journeys. (Of course, it's not really as simple as that. Each plane will need a crew which hasn't exceeded their maximum working times, together with a departure slot which will have to be added into the schedule of one of the world's busiest airports).

Chris

[Buenchico]

For Dot:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8621407.stm

[jno]

tut... wake up and smell the ashes, Dot!

[NoMercy]

She has been working all day you know ! ;-)

[pericat]

Thanks chris so he's prob in kul or fra or ams

[pericat]

He's in abu dhabi and luckily this time was flying business class