Angry volcano gods ease up, allow some flights in Europe

The ash cloud hovering in European airspace produced by the unpronouncable Icelandic volcano dissipated enough to allow approximately 14,000 flights in European airspace Tuesday. That is "half of scheduled air traffic, according to Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental body that manages European air travel," says a recent CNN report. 

Developments from Asian countries

• Air China said it will resume flying from Beijing to Moscow, Rome and Stockholm. Flights to London, Paris and Frankfurt are still suspended, it said.

• Indian authorities on Tuesday announced a two-week visa extension for Europe-bound foreign travelers stranded in the country because of the volcano. About 9,000 passengers booked by state-run Air India and private carrier Jet Airways have been left stranded, according to Indian civil aviation authorities.
• Air India has resumed flights to Chicago, New York's JFK airport and Newark from Mumbai and New Delhi, the civil aviation ministry said. The airline has two planes stranded at London's Heathrow and one at Frankfurt, it added.
• India's Jet Airways has restarted its U.S. and Canada flights via Athens. The airline hopes Europe-bound passengers can travel onwards from Athens to other destinations on the continent. 

• Japan Airlines said it planned to run a round-trip flight between Tokyo and Rome. It added an extra flight from Tokyo to Rome to help stranded passengers get home. Since Thursday, JAL has canceled 55 flights, which has affected 14,000 passengers, the airline said.

• Malaysia Airlines said it plans to resume flights to London, Paris and Amsterdam starting Wednesday. Between Thursday and Tuesday it canceled 46 flights involving 14,000 passengers. 

• Singapore Airlines said it plans to start resuming flights from Singapore to Paris and Barcelona on Tuesday, with services to Rome, Amsterdam and Zurich starting Wednesday. It says all other flights not listed above remain canceled at this point.

• Thai Airways, based in Bangkok, estimates that the cloud is costing the airline US$3 million a day and has stranded 6,000 of its passengers.

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