Dubai: New ash clouds from an Icelandic volcano brought more travel chaos yesterday as several European airports shut down, disrupting some flights to and from the UAE.
Etihad Airways had to ground four flights but Emirates did not report any delays or cancellations of their services to northern Europe, where about 1,000 flights were affected.
Flights from Abu Dhabi to Dublin and from Dublin to Abu Dhabi were cancelled, according to a statement by Etihad Airways. The flights to Manchester and back were also scrapped.
Passengers to Dublin will be booked on the next available flight, the statement added. Manchester-bound travellers will be put on the next flight or offered a flight to London's Heathrow, which continues to operate.
"It's not like in April when we cancelled 122 flights. This is so different," said Tom Clarke, Media Relations Officer at Etihad Airways. Other flights into and out of Heathrow are expected to operate, but with some delays due to congestion.
"We are monitoring the situation closely and are in regular contact with the European and UK authorities," the Etihad statement said.
Emirates said its services remained largely unaffected and it is continuing to liaise with air traffic control authorities across the UK and Europe, according to a statement sent to Gulf News yesterday.
