How are you affected by the flight chaos?

By ⋅ April 19, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

The enormous shroud of mineral dust particles emanating from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano now stretches from the Arctic Circle in the north to the French Mediterranean coast in the south, and from Spain into Russia. Thousand of flights have been grounded for days now disrupting the travel plans of millions of passengers. (flickr image: plasmastik) How have you been affected? Are you currently stuck away from home? Tell us about your experience by leaving a comment below.

Discussion

3 comments for “How are you affected by the flight chaos?”

  • http://rk3de.com Amanda Tamminga

    Please note: I am NOT the one to talk to as I’m not at all affected by the volcano. However, I DID want to point “The World” in the direction of the European equestrians and horses trying to make it to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event (www.rk3de.com) this weekend. Several of the UK riders had to make some interesting alternative travel arrangement to join their horses already state side (William Fox-Pitt and Oliver Townend are the two I am most familiar with. I believe there is at least one Irish rider, too, who had an interesting trip). The course designer, as well, may not be able to make it over (Michael Etherington-Smith). Rolex is one of the world’s premier competitions for the sport of three day eventing, and will be the sight of the FEI World Equestrian Games later this year, making it even more important for the the Europeans this spring. Anyway, I thought I would let you all know about these world class athletes, in case there was any interest in talking with them. Again, I am not the person to talk to, as I’m just a lowly fan of the sport who is also very fascinated by this whole volcano mess!

  • Sarah

    My sympathies to those more affected. I have a small company that has an order going from Michigan to Hamburg, Germany. Usually shipments have no problem going fairly directly, and arrive in about a week. Well, it has been a week, the shipment is in Madrid, and we have no estimate of when it will reach Hamburg. Our distributor is waiting for the goods, as are his customers. The shipment is an industrial supply, so I can understand that some company/ies in Europe may have to close manufacturing if it does not reach them in time. Our concern is also that the distributor pays us upon receipt of merchandise, so we, and our creditors, are also waiting …
    At the same time, boxes of industrial supplies do not need a bed to sleep in, or food, or a working toilet. It could well have been me, going to meet with customers, caught up in this, but I am not, and I am so grateful to be home right now.

  • Erin White

    We have an exchange group of Belgian students and their teachers visiting our school. Their trip was initially supposed to be 8 days. With the volcano, they will be staying for almost 3 weeks. Our students are really enjoying having them stay for longer and our host families are wonderful. Our town, Chapel Hill, NC has also opened their doors by giving free passes to the Planetarium and museums and some local restaurants are donating lunches. All in all it has been a learning experience in patience :)