Airlines open some flights

Passengers stuck in India and seeking a passage to Europe and the US due to volcanic eruptions in Iceland, can breathe easy as airlines are opening up flights along some sectors in the US, Canada and Europe.

On April 19, national carrier Air India (AI) started operation of its flights to New York and Chicago.  “On April 20, AI 127/126 (Mumbai-Chicago-Mumbai) will be operated with a technical halt at Cairo on both outbound and inbound routes,” said a press release from AI.

The airline will operate flight AI 191/144 on April 19 on the Delhi-Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Newark-Mumbai to clear the backlog of passengers between India and Newark.

Etihad Airways has also reinstated flights to Milan. “Etihad has reinstated services to Milan, following the volcanic ash which suspended services to UK, Russian Federation and European services this week. EY81 from Abu Dhabi to Milan departed from UAE at 8am and is the first of a number of destinations expected to recommence services across Europe over the next 24-36 hours,” said the spokesperson for Etihad.

It was Jet Airways which started flights to US, Canada on April 17 by changing routes and using Athens as the transit point.