Gulf Air resumes Europe services (News Report)

GULF Air will today resume flights to and from London, Paris, Frankfurt following the announcement of the gradual reopening of the airspace by European authorities. The airline will operate flight GF003 which leaves Bahrain for London at 2.45pm and flight GF006 which returns from London at 9.25pm, a Gulf Air statement said last night. Flight GF019 to Paris will leave Bahrain on schedule at 1.30am and flight GF017 to Frankfurt on schedule at 1.15am. "We hope to resume our full operations to and from these stations by tomorrow, subject to the full and permanent opening of the airspace." Meanwhile, Gulf Air has stepped in to help passengers delayed by the fallout of the erupting Icelandic volcano. A spokeswoman said more than 260 passengers were being accommodated in hotels in Bahrain at the airline's expense. "We are doing everything to ensure that Gulf Air passengers stranded in Bahrain are as comfortable as possible in terms of accommodation and meals," she said. "We have also set up an emergency taskforce team that is meeting those passengers and explaining the options. "In addition as a gesture of goodwill, for those passengers stranded in transit in Bahrain, Gulf Air has offered a credit value equal to their original full ticket to travel on Gulf Air services at a future date." Crowne Plaza Hotel and Golden Tulip confirmed an influx of passengers in the last few days. "We're collaborating with Gulf Air to accommodate stranded passengers," said Crowne Plaza sales and marketing director Kate Simmonds. "They're being provided with access to the Internet, the British Consulate website and means to contact their families. Golden Tulip was also appreciative of the way the passengers had reacted. "We explained the crisis individually to them and they've been quite considerate," said assistant general manager Abdul Rahim Al Sayed. "We told them that it's better to be on the ground than fly in unsure conditions. We witnessed worse situations during the Gulf War, this is no crisis." Copyright 2010 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group 'Gulf Air resumes Europe services', Gulf Daily News, April 20, 2010, Jennifer Gnana

Volcano of emotion

Sky News viewers were in for a shock last week while watching coverage of the closure of Scottish airspace due to the ominous volcanic ash cloud. While the TV presenter interviewed a couple about their delayed flight, an inebriated passenger crashed in yelling: "I hate Iceland." The man, who has since become a YouTube and Twitter sensation, has now earned himself the title Volcano Man. But as the volcano dust settles and the airlines return to normal, I couldn't help wondering how someone could spew venom at an entire nation. When news first came in about the volcanic eruption, my thoughts went back to the time I first pressed my dad into getting a book for me. I remember coming back from the Family Book Shop, Manama, years ago armed with an illustrated, abridged version of Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne and then spending days reading, and years re-reading it. The audacity of Professor von Hardwigg and his nephew Harry to descend into an Icelandic crater in a valiant bid to reach the earth's centre fascinated me. A subterranean underworld peopled by gigantic humans and battles with prehistoric sea monsters - the science that Verne employed to prove their existence was all too believable. I grew with great respect for Verne and his science fiction, as well as a secret desire to visit Iceland, climb inside a crater and discover a strange new world. Science, however, proved Verne wrong - climb inside an active crater and you could end up being roasted. A routine volcanic eruption in a lone northern country effectively put paid to the travel plans of thousands of people, resulting in European air chaos that hasn't been seen since the Second World War and billions of dollars in losses for airlines. But it's not just the active volcanoes that make Iceland the uniquely offbeat country that it is. The Norse mythology associated with the country is reinforced through the language Icelandic, which is based on an archaic alphabet used in Middle English - but which has since passed out of usage. Through the last week I've kept an ear open for any news of the volcano - not because I genuinely cared about it, but because I wanted to know how on earth anyone could pronounce its name: Eyjafjallajškull. The BBC always make it a point to get names right and, even after having appointed the parents to look out for it, I still haven't got round to listening to the pronunciation. A simple search on the Internet, however, seems to do the trick. The word, heavily influenced by North Germanic syllables, is pronounced "ay-yah-FYAH'-plah-yer-kuh-duhl". Now that wasn't too difficult, was it? ¥ Jennifer Gnana is a former Bahrain resident now studying in Mumbai. Her family still lives here.

Copyright 2010 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group

'Volcano of emotion', Gulf Daily News, April 23, 2010, Jennifer Gnana