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Washington (AP)

MSP official encourages air travelers to check flight status; Eastern US flights delayed

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A Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport official doesn't expect the volcanic ash that shut down British airspace to have a big impact on flights in and out of the Twin Cities.

But Airport Spokesman Pat Hogan said he recommends passengers with flights to northern Europe check with their airlines to see if their flights are delayed or canceled.

"It's not unusual for a volcano to erupt and cause issues in the sky, but for it to close down British airspace is unheard of," Hogan said.

In the eastern U.S. though, flights are being disrupted.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said Thursday that airlines are canceling some flights to Europe and others are being delayed.

Brown said the route for most flights from the East Coast to Europe crosses the North Atlantic near the ash cloud. Brown said the FAA and airlines are working to reroute some flights.

A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates New York's three metro area airports, would not comment on flights and the impact of the air space closure on individual airlines.

The route between New York and London is the second busiest in the world, behind Hong Kong to Taiwan.

British Airways spokesman John Lampl said the airline had several flights out of the U.S. bound for Heathrow that were returned to their destinations when London airports were closed. That includes flights from Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Las Vegas and New York. Some passengers were being put up in hotels.

"This (closure) will domino into every airline," Lampl said. "Everybody's in the same boat."

At the British Airways Terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, William Phelps and family told a local radio station that they had decided to stay longer in New York after their flight to London's Heathrow Airport was canceled.

"It's the simplest thing for us," he said. As for his children, he said they were fine with the change in plans. "They love New York, so that's OK."

(MPR's Jennifer Ehrlich contributed to this report from St. Paul.)