April 18- Scores of Qatar Airways passengers remain stranded in Doha after Qatar Airways decided to ground all its flights to London. The cancellations are the result of an ash cloud lingering over Europe that developed soon after the volcanic eruption in Iceland on Wednesday.
Sunil Menon, who works for Qatar’s travel industry, said that Doha-London flights of Qatar Airways were fully booked until at least April 18 and 19 as vacationing students were to return to Britain. “I got phone calls from some of my London-bound clients and so had to rush to the office (despite yesterday being Friday),” he added. “We are waiting for a circular from Qatar Airways,” said Menon.
Qatar Airway officials were unable to confirm when the airspace in northern Europe would be cleared for traffic. Meanwhile, the carrier’s website has announced that passengers can re-book onto Qatar Airways flights bound for another (unaffected) European sector with a departure date within 14 days of the affected flight.
In such cases passengers should hold the necessary documents and valid visas, the airline said.