Passengers at Brisbane airport have been left stranded after a mass cancellation of flights due to Iceland’s volcanic eruptions.

With all planes to Europe now grounded, many travellers have nowhere to go.

Steve Fox reports.

TRANSCRIPT

It was a dismal scene at the international terminal in Brisbane, with check in counters empty and people waiting anxiously in limbo.

Passenger one: “Sadly a volcano in Iceland means I’m not getting home when I wanted to, but it’s an Act of God, so there we go.”

Passenger two: “We are in a little turmoil because my daughter is due to run in the London marathon on Sunday so she is giving me an ear-bashing.”

Passenger three: “We’re lucky we’ve got family, so we can stay with family.”

Qantas grounded all its flights heading to Europe.

Passengers were still able get to the stopover point in Singapore, but many were trapped there, unable to fly any further.

Alan Joyce, Qantas Airways chief executive: “At the moment we have three aircraft obviously in Singapore with around about a thousand passengers who we are accommodating or providing with meal vouchers.”

But there are still many people unsure whether to leave the airport or wait it out.

Rebecca McCononchie, Brisbane Airport Corporation spokesperson: “Each airline is handling the situation differently because they all have different route networks and flight schedules, so the best thing for passengers to do is if they are intending to fly to Europe is contact the airlines direct.”

As volcanic ash continues to billow above Europe, there’s no word yet one when flights will return to normal, it could be days before passengers can return home.

Steve Fox, QUT News