Flights to London, Europe cancelled due to volcano ash

Many international airlines, including Indian carriers, have either cancelled or rescheduled their flights to north European destinations following volcanic ash clouding the flight path, a top Air India official said Friday.

"As of now, many of the flights are not going to operate to north European destinations," said a spokesperson for India's flagship carrier, Air India.

On Thursday, Air India's Delhi-London-Toronto flight and Mumbai-London flight were cancelled as ash spewing from a volcano in Iceland since Wednesday drifted over western and northern Europe, forcing airlines to cancel flights.

An Air India official said its flights to north European destinations would take off only after air operations at Heathrow airport (London) start.

Other leading private carriers like Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways, which fly to north European countries, have also cancelled their flights to London.

Kingfisher Friday cancelled four flights to and from London in view of the closure of air traffic over British airspace, an official of the airline said.

"Volcanic ash has led to the closure of London's Heathrow airport, owing to which we had to cancel flights to and from London," said Prakash Mirpuri, vice president, Corporate Communications of Kingfisher Airlines.

The flights cancelled are IT-007 Mumbai to London Heathrow, IT-008 London Heathrow to Mumbai, IT-001 New Delhi to London Heathrow and IT-002 London Heathrow to New Delhi.

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