With the reopening of European airspace, Bahrain's national airline Gulf Air said all its London, Paris and Frankfurt flights were back to normal, while Dubai carrier Emirates said it will start its UK operations today (April 21).

According to Gulf Air, all its flights were operating as per schedule except GF0017 Bahrain/ Frankfurt 'which has been delayed and will depart Bahrain at 1200 hours local time on Wednesday.'

Emirates said based on expected airspace availability it expected to operate flights to London, Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Glasgow.

'However, flights to and from Germany continue to experience disruption and may be cancelled or re-routed,' the airline said in a statement.

Emirates is expecting to make further headway in moving on passengers who have been stranded as a result of volcanic ash clouds. But the flight operation will be based on expected airspace availability,' the statement added.

Richard Vaughan, Emirates' Divisional senior vice president, Commercial Operations Worldwide, said the airline will try to operate as many flights as possible on Wednesday.

'We are hoping to make some good progress today in helping the many passengers who have been held up by the ongoing disruption. However, the situation across Europe remains unpredictable and developments are being very closely monitored,' he added.

'The gradual re-opening of UK airspace is a relief and critical to smoothing our Europe operations. Having said that, we have a long way to go before normality returns and it's important that passengers bear with us. We are very grateful for the patience and understanding our customers have displayed so far,' Vaughan said.

Elsewhere in Europe, airspace closures are gradually being eased. Flights continue into France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Greece, Turkey, Malta, Cyprus and Russia, the Emirates statement said.

Flights to and from Germany continue to experience disruption and may be cancelled or re-routed, Vaughan said.

'For passengers travelling to Europe via Dubai, Emirates is not accepting any passengers for travel to the UK and Germany. This is to help clear the backlog of travellers currently in Dubai awaiting onward connections to Europe. This policy will remain in effect until April 23,' he stated.

As a result of the disruption, the airline said it has been losing approximately $10 million a day and around 100,000 passengers around the network have been affected.

Emirates is constantly reviewing its flying schedule and aims to give customers as much notice as possible as information is received from European Air Traffic Control authorities, it added.
 
The airline urged the passengers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.

'Emirates' customers affected by the disruption can cancel their booking or change their onward destination without charge. All re-issue and cancellation fees will be waived while the disruption is ongoing,' he added.-TradeArabia New Service