The authorities have decided to extend a ban for commercial air travel as a plume of volcanic ash from Iceland continues to hang over central and northern Europe.
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The Federal Civil Aviation Office said Swiss airspace would remain closed until Sunday 2pm for aircraft flying at an altitude below 6,000 metres.
Thousands of air travellers were stranded as flights from and to Switzerland were cancelled for a second day and virtually all of Europe’s major airports remain closed.
Swiss International Airlines announced its fleet would remain grounded on Sunday.
President Doris Leuthard had to call off her visit to Poland to attend the funeral of the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski.
A weather expert said the cloud of volcanic ash had hardly moved all day Saturday and the meteorological conditions were set to remain unchanged for the near future.
The shutdown of commercial air travel led to overcrowded trains in Switzerland despite extra services laid on by the Federal Railways.
Car rentals, taxis and hotels also recorded massive bookings.
The disruption has affected millions of people since the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland began erupting again on Wednesday.
It is costing airlines more than $200 million (SFr213 million) a day, the air industry body IATA estimated.
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Crowded trains and air traffic blocked by ash
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Thousands of air travelers were stranded as flights were being cancelled for a second day. The Federal Civil Aviation Office has announced the Swiss airspace would remain closed until Sunday 2pm. A spokesman said the plume of volcanic ash had hardly moved all day Saturday and the weather conditions were set to remain unchanged for…
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By early evening on Thursday, 80 takeoffs and landings from Zurich had been cancelled. In Geneva, about 100 flights had been affected. Basel’s Euroairport was also hit. In the same period the airline Swiss had had to cancel 70 European flights, its spokesman said. However, none of its planes was stuck outside Switzerland, he added.…
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The civil aviation office announced the ban on Friday afternoon. It began at midnight, when the ash was expected to arrive over Switzerland, and remains in force until at least 8pm on Saturday. The only planes still allowed to fly are those on search and rescue missions. The office said it was monitoring the situation…
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The volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier has become a major problem since it started spewing ash high into the atmosphere on April 14. The cloud it has generated has caused major interruptions in flights over Europe. (All pictures: Keystone)
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.