Erupting Etna grounds half-term holiday f lights

VOLATILE Mount Etna spewed dense clouds of ash and smoke yesterday, forcing airlines to cancel half-term holiday flights.

Furious British Airways passengers at Heathrow’s Terminal Five waiting for a departure to Athens were given less than an hour’s notice that Europe’s most active volcano had forced the airline to cancel the flight.

A number of flights from British and other European airports were either delayed or cancelled. EasyJet was also unable to operate into and out of Athens yesterday.

At Heathrow last night, passenger John McEntee was told at the last minute that his BA flight was cancelled. He said: ‘This is a complete customer service disaster.’

Etna has erupted repeatedly this year but yesterday’s activity was reported to be especially violent. Ash and debris rained down on houses and cars in Catania, Sicily’s second-largest city. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, 30 miles from Etna, warned that flight disruptions may persist in the coming days and ash clouds and landslides were to be expected.

An easyJet spokesman said: ‘EasyJet is doing everything possible to minimise the disruption for our passengers, providing assistance and hotel rooms where required.’ BA did not comment.

● Half-term holidaymakers hoping to get away to the Continent by road joined frustrated lorry drivers in queuing for miles for the Channel Tunnel last night, with seven-hour waits caused by an electrical fault on the railway.

Motorists clogged the M20 near Folkestone in Kent through the afternoon.

Apologising for the delays, Eurotunnel said they had been caused by a technical fault with the overhead power supply.

The volcano hurls ash and debris skywards yesterday