Airspace in northern Italy willremain closed until tomorrow morning due to ash from a volcano eruption in Iceland, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement this morning, revising a previous statement.
The statement was issued even as airlines called on governments to reopen routes through the volcanic ash cloud over Europe. The International Air Transport Association said today that the crisis was "now greater than September 11".
"We are far enough in this crisis to express our dissatisfaction at how governments have managed the crisis," IATA director general and chief executive Giovanni Bisignani told aviation reporters in Paris.
"Risk assessment should be able to help us to reopen certain corridors, if not the entire airspace," he said, calling on aviation authorities to make decisions based "on real situations".
Over the weekend several European airlines successfully staged test flights through parts of the ash trail blowing from Iceland, leading some to question whether the current flight bans were necessary.
The crisis has led to the cancellation of some 150 flights to Malta over the past few days, stranding thousands of Maltese abroad and thousands of tourists here. Some tourists said they had had their flight rebooked three times, only to see them to see them cancelled again.
This morning, all flights to Malta from Europe were cancelled except those from Rome. Flights were cancelled from Gatwick, Manchester, Dublin, Frankfurt, Vienna, Malpensa, Paris, Munich, Heathrow, Amsterdam, Zurich, Frankfurt, Brussels, Toulouse and Dusseldorf.
Air Malta has been operating extra flights to Rome for those passengers who can drive from there to their homes.
Hundreds of other tourists have returned to their hotels, but hoteliers have admitted that they are worried over whether it would be insurers or their guests who would be paying for the service. Some tourists have said that they had been told by insurers that this was an 'act of god' and they were therefore not liable.
The Consumers' Association in a statement this morning said that even in such exceptional circumstances EU passenger rights continue to apply and air travellers should speak up to claim their rights.
"It is important to remind passengers and airlines that EU passenger rights do apply in this situation: That includes: the right to receive information from airlines (e.g. on your rights, on the situation as it evolves, cancellations and length of delay; right to care (refreshments, meals, accommodation as appropriate) and the right to choose between reimbursement of fares or be re-routed to final destination.."
The association added, however, that in exceptional circumstance such as this, passengers are not entitled to additional financial compensation that would be the case where delays or cancellations are the fault of the airline.