Govt Urges Passengers to Postpone Air Travel to Europe
With volcanic ash cloud continuing to disrupt flights for the sixth day today, the Union Civil Aviation Ministry has urged passengers to postpone their travel to European destinations, said media reports.
The advisory came even as more than 41,000 passengers are stranded in India due to cancellation of flights and closure of European airports.
According to Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar, situation affectedly nearly 41,435 outbound passengers in Delhi and Mumbai, reports said.
“Civil Aviation Ministry has set up a control room, headed by a Joint Secretary, with officials from Ministry of External Affairs and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to help those stranded in India,” he was quoted as saying.
In the meanwhile, Air India and Jet Airways operated flights to the US and Canada taking alternative routes to avoid the affected airspace.
Jet Airways has also started its Delhi-Toronto and Mumbai-New York flights with a stop-over at Athens in Greece.
Air operators are continuously in touch with various foreign missions in India to take care of the stranded passengers from those countries.
(Based on internet reports)
