Volcanic eruption in Iceland delays passengers

MANILA, Philippines - Some 27 passengers with a connecting flight to Brussels, Belgium have been stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 1 since Thursday night after flights to Belgian airports were suspended following the eruption of a volcano in nearby Iceland that caused heavy ash fall.

The passengers are now staying at the departure transit lounge of the airport while waiting for updates from Etihad Airways on their connecting flight to Brussels.

Manila International Airport Authority general manager Melvin Matibag ordered Bing Lina, terminal 1 manager, and his action officers Manny Rodriguez, Joselito Casaul, Danny Chua and Fred Vasquez to provide temporary accommodation for the affected passengers at the departure transit lounge.

Rodriguez said that Etihad Airways duty manager Dixie Avila said that they cannot provide hotel accommodation and food for the stranded passengers, but the airline is looking for other options to assist the passengers.

Passenger Paul Handervick, 54, married to Korina Castillo of Ilocos Norte, arrived in Manila last March 23 for a holiday in Ilocos. He said they arrived at the NAIA around 10 p.m. for the 1 a.m. Etihad flight EY 421 bound for Abu Dhabi with a connecting flight to Brussels.

Handervick said they had already checked in their luggage when Etihad employees told them that their connecting flight to Brussels had been delayed and took their boarding passes.

Handervick said their passports had already been stamped by immigration officers, indicating that they had left the country. “If we go out of the airport they might say that we are illegal aliens so we are stranded here and we do not know when the flight will be cleared.”

Maria Lourdes Reyes of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said that KLM flight 803 bound for Amsterdam in the Netherlands, with some 390 passengers, arrived at NAIA around 10 a.m. yesterday.

KLM flight 804 bound for Europe was not allowed to depart due to the ash fall caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

Reyes said all departing passengers on KLM flight 804 were billeted at a local hotel for free. The plane departs today at 8:45 a.m.