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A plume of volcanic ash rises six to 11 kilometres into the atmosphere, from a crater under about 200 metres of ice at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in southern Iceland - Source: Reuters -
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Stranded New Zealand air travellers may know later whether flights to England will resume after a giant ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland covered British airspace.
Thousands of passengers around the world have been left in limbo because it is too dangerous for aircraft to fly through the ash clouds.
But Air New Zealand said on Saturday it is hoping for some indication later in the day of a possible reopening of air routes.
The number of passengers stranded in New Zealand grew to about 2000 on Saturday, mostly travellers booked to fly to England.
The airline's flights took off to Los Angeles and Hong Kong on Friday night and the airline says they will take off again on Saturday night but passengers will fly at their own risk if they are travelling further.
The airline says it is advising passengers not to fly and says if flights are terminated at LA and Hong Kong passengers will have to find and pay for their own accommodation.
Air New Zealand spokesman Mark Street, says hotel rooms are very scarce, if available at all, and there is a very good chance passengers will find nowhere to stay if they ignore airline advice and fly.
The insurance industry says most passengers should get insurance cover if they had taken travel insurance when they bought their tickets.
Street says the airline is 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 will not pay if passengers decide to fly against airline advice.
The latest advice from the National Air Traffic Service (NATS) in England says flights over England and Wales will continue to be grounded until at least 7pm Saturday (NZ time).
It says from 7am Saturday (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 says the update does not mean all flights will operate and anyone hoping to travel on Saturday or Sunday should contact their airline before going to the airport.
It says the situation is "dynamic and subject to change."
Air New Zealand says passengers who defer their travel to another Air New Zealand flight will not face a penalty and those who no longer wish to travel can apply for a full refund.
