Volcanic ash cloud grounds flights
Dutch airline KLM said today it cancelled 59 flights leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at Schiphol Airport because of a cloud of ash hanging above Europe.
Spokesman Frank Houben said the cloud was caused by a volcanic eruption on Tuesday evening in Iceland. A plume of ash had drifted across European air space all the way to the Black Sea.
“Because of company rules we can’t fly below it and we can’t fly above it,” Houben said. He didn’t know whether other airlines had also cancelled flights along northern European routes.
Many travellers were able to reroute or find hotels, but around 400 were sleeping on cots at the airport.
The Icelandic Meteorological office said on Tuesday that the eruption occurred at Grimsvotn, in eastern Iceland, around 8pm local time.
KLM is part of the French airline Air France-KLM.
