ASH DISRUPTION CAUSES HAVOC FOR HOLIDAYMAKERS

DOZENS of local holidaymakers and business travellers have been caught up in the current travel chaos caused by the volcanic ash cloud which has closed most of UK airspace since last Thursday.

Several travellers from Banbridge and Rathfriland have had unscheduled extensions to their holiday plans, while one Rathfriland family had their flight from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates suddenly diverted to Germany when Dublin airport closed on Thursday.

Jim and Janet McConnell and their daughter Mandy are still in Munich and, according to their son Warren, could be stranded in the country for over another week due to the ash cloud from Iceland's still active Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

"My mum, dad and sister were en route home from a three-and-a-half week visit to Australia to see my other sister Rachael, who is working as a nanny in the country," Warren told the Leader on Monday. "They were about six hours into the final leg of their longhaul flight from Abu Dhabi to Dublin when the airport closed and the flight was diverted to Munich in Germany.

"I was speaking to my parents yesterday and they are in their third hotel since arriving in Germany. The hotels are all under pressure and the airline has had to keep moving passengers. Despite the upheaval they are in good spirits, but are just anxious to get home.

"My dad is quite relaxed about it all and is fitting in some more sight-seeing, but mum is desperate to get home and is nearly ready to start walking it. They think it could be over a week at the earliest before they can get a flight, even if restrictions are lifted."

Another holidaymaker from Banbridge, who was due to fly into Belfast yesterday (Monday), spoke of her resignation at the unexpected extension of her holiday in a rain-soaked resort on the Algarve in Portugal.

Heather Furlong is still in the Portuguese resort of Porches and experiencing her first day of sunshine since the air travel ban prevented her and her party, including an 84-year-old aunt, from returning home to Northern Ireland and the South of England.

"We are flying with Aer Lingus and when we arrived at the airport to find we wouldn't be flying, the staff were all very pleasant and did what they could for us," said Heather. "We came back to our hired villa and we are just trying to be patient. Today has been the first sunny day, so at least that is something in the circumstances, as we have had torrential rain for most of the week.

" We are keeping ourselves up-dated with regular trips to the nearby internet cafe and I am hoping we will be on a flight next Friday."

Another local woman, Leanne Steele, has been stranded with a group of friends in Salou after her flight home from Barcelona was cancelled on Monday.

"We had a brilliant week, but it is all turning into a bit of nightmare now and it has been difficult trying to get in touch with EasyJet and find out what is happening," she said. "We are resigned to the fact it could be another week before we get home and I don't know what we would have done if family members hadn't topped up our bank accounts with some extra money.

"It is all out of our control, so we are just going to lie by the pool and make the most of it. There is nothing else you can do."

However, Banbridge man Norman Kerr, who has been stranded in Brussells since last Thursday, was determined to find a way home overland when the Leader caught up with him in Antwerp yesterday.

Norman, who has been on a fact-finding trip with the Federation of Ulster Studies, was on a bus from his hotel and halfway to the airport last Thursday when he and the 50-strong party found out that all flights had been cancelled.

"We continued on to the airport to find out what was happening and then we returned and managed to find some accommodation as it became clear we were going to be stuck here for some time," said Norman, one of three Banbridge men on the trip. "Some of our party have now returned by Eurotunnel, some have deserted and some are still here. There is some hope we can book ourselves on to a Northern Ireland Chambers coach in Zurich and if we get lucky, we could be home by Friday. I hope it is not much longer; everyone is running out of money!"

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