EGYPT'S national carrier EgyptAir and a number of foreign airlines on Saturday suspended their flights to Brussels, London, Vienna and some other European destinations due to the ashes spewed by the Iceland volcano, a Cairo Airport official said on Saturday. "The German, Austrian, Czech, French, Dutch and Italian airlines suspended 19 flights to and from European destinations due to Iceland volcano. EgyptAir cancelled 13 flights to London, Düsseldorf, Zurich, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Paris,Geneva, Munchin, Brussels, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome," the official added. He said that it was likely more flights would be suspended as the volcano showed no sign of subsiding. "EgyptAir turned to changing the models of planes travelling to European cities to get more passengers as the travellers who asked to travel to other European capitals could go on board," the company said on Saturday. He pointed out that EgyptAir set up a call centre for queries on the suspended flights. "Anyone who needs to get full information about his flight can call 1717 or 090070000. It's working 24/7," the official said. With the source of the ash, a volcano in Iceland, still spewing smoke into the atmosphere, there are already fears the chaos in European airports could go on for days if not weeks. Some experts said there could be disruption for six months as a result of contaminated air drifting over northern Europe. The continuing travel disruptions mean further loss of trade and tourism for Europe as it struggles to emerge from recession. The airline industry alone is losing as much as $200 million a day, according to the International Air Transport. Ali Qotb of Egypt's General Meteorological Authority, meanwhile, said there was no impact of the volcano on north Africa and Egypt, adding that the wind was going into the direction of west Europe. "We are safe from the Iceland volcano ashes. However, no-one can predict when it would end," Qotb said yesterday. About 16,000 flights were cancelled in European airspace on Saturday because of the cloud of ash from the Icelandic volcano, European air traffic authorities said yesterday. Eurocontrol said it was expected about 6,000 flights to take off on Saturday, comparedwith the normal 22,000. On Friday, about 10,400 flights took place in Europe, compared with the normal 29,000 – meaning more than 18,000 flights were cancelled for the day.
