Top News

Volcano may affect Barca's travel plans

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-23 18:30

MADRID - FC Barcelona and their fans are on volcano watch as the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Grimstovn threatens to disrupt their travel plans to the Champions League final.

The eruption of the Grimstovn volcano led to Icelandic airspace being closed this weekend and with the cloud of ash released by the eruption threatening to drift south-east towards the British Isles: that could lead to air-traffic problems for many parts of Europe over the coming days.

The ash may have drifted as far as England by Thursday and should that happen and cause the airspace of the South of England to be closed, it would present a serious problem for Barcelona fans aiming to travel to London for the Champions League final, which will be played at Wembley on May 28.

Related readings:  UK ready as volcanic ash heads for British skies  Iceland says hopes to reopen main airport Monday  Europe on alert for Icelandic volcano ash cloud  Iceland hit by volcano, Europe routes so far open

Almost 25,000 Barcelona fans have tickets to the game and 80 percent of them are expected to fly to London. If the airspace was to be closed, many of them would find themselves stranded and unable to travel.

Meanwhile the club has made alternative travel arrangements for the team for if the worst should happen and the cloud of ash makes it impossible to fly. The Barcelona players would take a coach to the town of Figueres, which is on the frontier with France. From Figueres they would travel by train to Montpellier and catch a high-speed train to Paris.

Once in Paris, the Barcelona team would take the Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel to London. The trip would last 10 hours, whereas a flight between Barcelona and London takes slightly less than two hours.

It is not the first time the eruption of an Icelandic volcano has complicated life for FC Barcelona and their fans. Last year the Eyjafjalla volcano erupted in April and caused air-traffic chaos over Europe for a large part of the spring.

The Eyjafjalla eruption forced Barcelona to travel 977 kilometers by coach to Milan for the first leg of their semifinals of the Champions League and the journey was one of the reasons why a tired Barca side lost the resulting game 3-1 and went out of Europe 3-2 on aggregate.