The following is an email we received from Lufthansa of the Star Alliance late Friday afternoon. PLEASE NOTE: On travels to Africa we will attempt to use South African Airways and Ethiopian Airways in order to by-pass Europe entirely! These flights will fill quickly, so place something on a courtesy hold right away!As this is sent on April 19th, Monday afternoon, there are encouraging signs of air service beginning again. If you have a departure, please check the airline web site for up to date information.
Volcanic eruption causes irregularities in flight operations
Last update: 16th April, 1700 UTC Please read the latest updates on the flight status here on this page.
Like all airlines, Lufthansa must comply with directives issued by ministries and air traffic control. Many European airports have closed. In Germany, the airports in Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Dortmund, Dresden, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hanover, Hof, Leipzig, Munich, Muenster/Osnabrueck, Nuremberg and Stuttgart have shut down. All arrivals and departures at these airports have been cancelled until further notice.
Passengers who have booked flights from the above-mentioned airports are requested not to travel to the airport and to keep up-to-date with the status of their flights via electronic media.
Passengers travelling within Germany can switch to a journey by rail with Deutsche Bahn, if their flights have to be cancelled. For that purpose, they must exchange their electronic ticket (etix) for a travel voucher at a Lufthansa check-in machine at the airport. Alternatively passenger can buy a Deutschen Bahn AG rail ticket. In this case the flight ticket price can later be refunded*.
Passengers whose flights have been cancelled will be rebooked in the same compartment free of charge on other flights (which must be flown by 31 May). Alternatively, if they wish to cancel their ticket, they will receive a refund. Further information is available from the Lufthansa Service Center or out of Germany toll free under 0800 8 50 60 70. Due to the exceptional circumstances, customers may face longer than normal waiting times. At present it is not possible to predict how the air traffic situation in Europe will progress.
* non-flown tickets will be fully refunded. Partly flown tickets will be refunded pro-rata.Blessings,
Blake Stiles Lawson, Founder
reservations@missionaryairfaresearch.com
877.634.1199
770.436.1334
770.928.2659 Fax