Volcanic dust aborts Polish funeral trip

The volcanic dust cloud disrupting air traffic across Europe has forced Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand to abandon attempts to attend the state funeral of the President of Poland.

Sir Anand left New Zealand on Thursday night to attend the state funeral of Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria Kaczynska in Krakow on Sunday.

On arrival in Los Angeles, however, Sir Anand and his aide-de-camp found their flight to London had been cancelled. Sir Anand spent the night in Los Angeles, and yesterday flew to New York for a possible direct flight to the Polish capital, Warsaw.

The family of the late President has urged that his funeral be held as planned, despite fears some world leaders may be unable to attend.

So far, President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are still on the list of attendees.

However, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan has cancelled his trip to Poland. An 11-member delegation led by Chung had planned to leave on Saturday, said Shin Bu-seop, an official of the prime minister's office.

This morning the flight from New York to Warsaw was cancelled due to the closure of European airspace because of the clouds of ash from an Icelandic volcano, making it unlikely Sir Anand would be able to attend the State Funeral.

The official secretary at Government House, Robert Taylor, said it was decided that the Governor-General should return home.

"This decision was made very reluctantly," Mr Taylor said.

"The Governor-General wanted to pass on in person the condolences of all New Zealanders at the tragic loss of the President, his wife and so many other senior members of Polish government and society.

"However, the disruption to flights caused by the volcanic dust cloud made it impossible to get the Governor-General to Poland in time for the funeral.

Mr Taylor said there was also concern that if Sir Anand made it to Europe, the ongoing disruption could have seen him stuck outside New Zealand for a lengthy period of time.

"While the Governor-General is unable to attend the funeral, he reiterates his condolences to Polish people on the tragic loss of their President and so many others," Mr Taylor said.

New Zealand will be represented at the funeral by New Zealand's Ambassador to Poland, Dr Penelope Ridings.

Sir Anand is expected back in New Zealand on Monday.

Meanwhile, stranded New Zealand air travellers may know later today whether flights to England will resume.

Thousands of passengers around the world have been left in limbo because it was too dangerous for aircraft to fly through the ash clouds.

But Air New Zealand said this morning it was hoping for some indication later today of a possible reopening of air routes.

The number of passengers stranded in New Zealand grew to about 2000 today, mostly travellers booked to fly to England.

The airline's flights took off to Los Angeles and Hong Kong last night and the airline said they would take off again tonight but passengers would fly at their own risk if they were travelling further.

The airline said it was advising passengers not to fly and said if flights were terminated at LA and Hong Kong passengers would have to find and pay for their own accommodation.

Air New Zealand spokesman Mark Street, said hotel rooms were very scarce, if available at all, and there was a very good chance passengers would find nowhere to stay if they ignored airline advice and flew.

The insurance industry said most passengers should get insurance cover if they had taken travel insurance when they bought their tickets.

Mr Street said the airline was paying the hotel accommodation for about 600 passengers in Frankfurt, Los Angeles and Hong Kong after their travel plans were disrupted part way through their flight, but it would not pay if passengers decided to fly against airline advice.

The latest advice from the National Air Traffic Service (NATS) in England said flights over England and Wales would continue to be grounded until at least 7pm today (NZ time).

It said from 7am today (NZ time) some restrictions had been lifted in a large part of Scottish and Northern Ireland airspace.

"On this basis, North Atlantic traffic can also operate to from points in this airspace."

However, NATS also said the update did not mean all flights would operate and anyone hoping to travel today or tomorrow should contact their airline before going to the airport.

It said the situation was "dynamic and subject to change."

Air New Zealand said passengers who deferred their travel to another Air New Zealand flight would not face a penalty and those who no longer wished to travel could apply for a full refund.

- NZPA, AP