Flights to London and Amsterdam

Malaysia Airlines flights to London and Amsterdam on Thurday disrupted due to airspace restrictions after a volcanic eruption in Iceland.A statement from MAS said the following flights were disrupted:Kuala Lumpur London MH4, which departed Kuala Lumpur 10.00am Thursday will not be landing in London but will be diverted to Frankfurt with estimated arrival at 2.15pm local time.

Kuala Lumpur London flight (MH2) and Kuala Lumpur Amsterdam (MH16) departing at 11.45pm and 11.55pm respectively Thursday have been delayed until further notice.

London Kuala Lumpur flight (MH3) has already departed London and is expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur on schedule.Amsterdam Kuala Lumpur flight (MH17) already departed and is also expected to arrive in Kuala Lumpur on scheduleKuala Lumpur Frankfurt (MH006) will be departing on schedule at 11.50pm Thurday.

Affected connecting passengers in Kuala Lumpur on tonight's flights to London and Amsterdam will be given a one-night accommodation.Malaysia Airlines director of operations Captain Azharuddin Osman said: We are rescheduling the flights after receiving confirmation from the airport authorities to suspend our flights in and out of both airports.We will only be able to confirm our flight schedules once we receive clearance from the relevant civil aviation authorities.Customers holding special fare tickets with restrictive terms and conditions which normally do not allow for change of travel dates, can now do so without penalty fee until April 30. For any subsequent booking changes, a penalty fee will be incurred. Refunds are not applicable.

Earlier Thursday, ash clouds from the spewing volcano disrupted air traffic across Europe as authorities closed air space over Britain, Ireland and the Nordic countries.Tens of thousands of passengers were stranded as flights were cancelled and it was not clear when it would be safe enough to fly again.The volcano's smoke and ash poses a threat to aircraft because it can affect visibility, and microscopic debris can get sucked into airplane engines and can cause them to shut down.