News of: Thursday, April 15 2010,
Due to the approaching ash cloud from Iceland, all air traffic to or from Dutch airports has been stopped, starting 7pm this evening.
All Dutch airports, including Schiphol Amsterdam Airport, will at least be closed until 6am on Friday morning. This may be extended with an extra 24 hours.
Schiphol airport and the Red Cross have placed thousands of camp beds to offer emergency accommodation to stranded travellers. Free drinks, food and internet will be provided on the airport.
Hotels in and around Amsterdam are almost full.
Air traffic above much of northern Europe has come to a stand-still. More than 5,000 flights have been cancelled.
The government has said there is no threat for public health, but it has also instigated continuous measurements by a governmental body. Also if it would start to rain (which is not predicted) the ash particles would not become dangerous, as they would be attached to rain drops and would not be inhaled.
The Dutch Railways will operate extra trains to relatively close-by destinations as Cologne, London, Brussels, Paris and Frankfurt.
Queen Beatrix, Prince Willem Alexander and his wife Princess Maxima have taken a train to Denmark instead of a plane, in order to be able to attend the Danish Queen's birthday.
