WORLD
The black plume, forced countries to extend bans on most flights with Air Traffic Control in Britain, Germany, Denmark, Nordic countries, France announcing that no flights would operate till Sunday.
An unprecedented 17,000 flights were grounded as drifting volcanic ash cloud forced a no-fly-zone over almost whole of Europe shutting down major hubs including, London, Paris and Frankfurt stranding millions of travellers.
For the third day in succession the massive drifts of volcanic ash blanketed European airspace, with risks that it may linger on for upto five more days.
The black plume, forced countries to extend bans on most flights with Air Traffic Control in Britain, Germany, Denmark, Nordic countries, France and most of Eastern European countries, announcing that no flights would operate till Sunday.
The thick clouds left hundreds of thousands of air -passengers stranded all over Europe and Asia including India.
As many as 17,000 flights out of Europe's usual 28,000 were cancelled as the airspace remained totally empty over northern Europe and scientists warned that the volcanic activity had increased in Iceland which could cause more disruption.
The grounding of major airliners was costing the industry at least $200 million a day, according to an IATA spokesman.
The flying ash also affected airlines in US where 280 out of the 330 transatlantic flights were cancelled.Air traffic control officials said they still were not sure when the flights would return to normal.
Poland said it was shutting all airports till further notice, which could throw into doubt the arrival of world leaders including US president Barack Obama who was due to fly to the southern city of Krakow on Sunday to attend the funeral of Polish president Lech Kaczynski.
Ireland reimposed flight ban over its airspace, while Austria, Belgium, France and Switzerland said there would be no flight operations till Sunday.
As chaos prevailed at all European airports, an Iceland geologist warned that activity from the erupting volcano had increased causing a rise in ash plume. But he said that flights over the volcano would be undertaken today or tomorrow to determine how long the eruption would last.
All 16 international airports in Germany were shut down until 2 pm tomorrow.
Munich airport operated till Friday evening as the only German airport not affected by the flight ban, but there too all incoming and outgoing flights have been cancelled.
A spokesperson for the German air traffic control said that flight ban could be extended to Sunday.
At the Frankfurt airport, the largest airport on the European mainland, all flights including the four daily Air India flights to and from India were cancelled since Friday morning.
Over a thousand stranded passengers spent the night at the airport on camping beds provided by the airport authorities.
German chancellor Angela Merkel, who was returning home after attending the nuclear security summit in Washington, made a stop-over in Lisbon on Friday as her plane could not land in Berlin.
A German government statement said she will try to return to Berlin on Saturday.
Raima Sen mourns Bharat Dev Varma's demise, pens emotional note for 'great father, great husband'
DNA TV Show: Ahead of Maharashtra poll results, MVA, Mahayuti engage in resort politics
Maharashtra: Stage set for assembly poll results; Mahayuti, MVA confident of their victories
All set for vote counting in Jharkhand tomorrow; NDA, JMM-led alliances confident of winning
Watch: Australia star inquires Rishabh Pant about his next IPL team, gets 2-word reply
Shah Rukh Khan’s house Mannat was first offered to his industry rival…, but he refused because...
The Visionary Who Promises a Blue Sky for India: Holger Thorsten Schubart’s G20 Climate Speech
The Surge of High-End Living: Luxury Residential Market to Outpace Other Segments
FeFCon 2024 to be Held in Bangalore: A Premier Event on Fever Management
'That’s wild': Noida man turns cigarette butts into teddy bears in viral video, watch
London Airport evacuates passengers over security threat, thousands stranded
The World’s First Innovative Iron Supplement to Combat Iron Deficiency and Anaemia
Meet grandmother who became fashion icon after trying on her granddaughter’s clothes
IND vs AUS: Rishabh Pant joins Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma in elite WTC list, becomes 3rd Indian to...
'All scripted drama...': Puneet Superstar allegedly assaulted by influencers in viral video, watch
Actress Ana de Armas caught kissing Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s son in viral photos
Oreshnik's Shadow: Will Russia's hypersonic missile force west to back down?
‘You’re So Beautiful’: World’s tallest woman meets world’s shortest woman over tea, pics go viral
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Consequences of GRAP-4 are drastic, may have adverse effects, says SC
Delhi-NCR Air Pollution: Schools likely to stay closed till..., check city-wise update
Maharashtra: 3 killed, 9 hospitalised after gas leak at fertiliser plant in Sangli
THIS farm is selling a cup of coffee for Rs 28000, but there's a twist, it is...
Chhattisgarh: 10 Maoists killed after encounter with security personnel in Sukma
Mukesh Ambani's SUPERHIT plan for Jio users, offers unlimited 5G access for 1 year for just Rs...
IND vs AUS 1st Test: KL Rahul's dismissal sparks DRS controversy in Perth Test
Dense fog, heavy rain predicted in these states till November 25; check here
Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile: Which nations are within its range?
Bihar teacher, principal reach school in drunken state; know what happened next
'I have faced a lot of...': Arjun Kapoor REVEALS his biggest fear amid break up with Malaika Arora
How millions of Indians may get affected due to US indictment of Gautam Adani in bribery case
Amid divorce rumours with Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan says 'missing someone is okay but...'
After Bibles, watches and sneakers, Donald Trump is now selling autographed guitars, price is...
Delhi pollution: Air quality improves to ‘very poor’ category, AQI at...
Vladimir Putin's BIG threat, warns he could strike UK with new ballistic missile if...
Shillong Teer Results TODAY November 22, 2024 Live Updates: Check winning numbers here
Somebody misbehaved with Alia Bhatt on Highway sets then Imtiaz Ali had to...
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal reveals twist behind Rs 200000 job fee, closes application window
Days after Ratan Tata's demise, Tata Group's Rs 131000 crore company inks pact with ADB for...