Ash-hit tourists home following five-star rescue

The relieved passengers docked in Southampton after a 30-hour trip aboard the 500m Celebrity Eclipse.

The tourists – including some who had been stranded for up to seven days – embarked in Bilbao, Northern Spain, on Thursday for the free cruise on the luxury ship, with many having had endured overnight coach journeys of up to 16 hours to reach the port.

Guests were treated to beds, food and entertainment aboard the ship, which cancelled its inaugural celebrations to come to the rescue. There were also free drinks in the final hours of the sailing, some compensation for those who may have wished to stay on board for longer to enjoy its five-star luxuries.

But the Eclipse had sped to Southampton at its top speed of 24 knots to get people back because many on board were from Scotland, northern England, the Midlands and Wales and so had lengthy final legs to complete. A fleet of 65 coaches was at the port to get the passengers on the road, and those with the longest way to go disembarked first.

There was fresh misery for other stranded Britons last night as travel chiefs warned many will still be stuck next week.

Travel organisation Abta said it aimed to have repatriated more than 100,000 British passengers by the end of this weekend.

But its chief executive Mark Tanzer added: "While most flights are back to normal, and most stranded British passengers will be back by the end of this weekend, there is still quite a high level of disruption in some destinations.

"In some areas of the world, there is a significant lack of air capacity to enable British people to be returned quickly."

A group of Leeds Met University students are among those still waiting to return home having been unable to secure a flight back from India.

Eight students on an international events management course were due back on Monday. But Leo Quigley said his daughter Rhea, 24, had been told by British Airways it maybe another two weeks before they can fly back.

"The worry is nobody seems to be able to do anything about it," he said.

The RAF's Typhoon Eurofighters did take to the skies again yesterday after tests showed volcanic ash found in engines had caused no damage.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) received further assurances on British air safety from military chiefs as the entire fleet of 69m jets were given the green light to take off again after being temporarily grounded when ash was found in engines on Wednesday.

It came just days after UK skies were reopened following the eruption of Mount Eyjafjallajkull in Iceland which sent a massive volcanic ash cloud sweeping over Europe leading to the halting of all UK flights for almost a week.

But not everyone welcomed the gradual return to normal. Rural campaigners said the tranquillity of British skies during the crisis could inspire a National Quiet Day.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England suggested the idea after people from across the country welcomed the lack of noise and said the country needed to learn lessons and explore the options for more resilient and quieter ways of getting about.

Graeme Willis, senior rural policy campaigner at the CPRE, said that overnight the skies were stripped of the sight and sound of aeroplanes and people were able to hear the simple sounds of the countryside once more.

Train operator East Coast is to operate one additional train on Sunday and Monday, on the London-Yorkshire-Edinburgh route, to help ease the travel disruption.

California to Yorkshire – in Six days

Exhausted Stephen Kelk and his wife Amanda took six days to get back to Yorkshire after a nightmare journey that began in California and took them via Frankfurt, Cologne, Brussels and Bruges.

The enjoyed two weeks in the States – despite two minor earthquakes in San Diego – but their nightmare began once they reached Germany on the way home.

Flights to Manchester were cancelled but they fared little better on trains, which were fully booked with other holidaymakers trying to get home.

Mr Kelk, a Yorkshire Water IT engineer from Brighouse, wife Amanda and daughter Amy, 13, spent two nights in Frankfurt hotels. After much queueing and two train delays they made it to Brussels. They got a lift to Bruges where they had to spend two more nights before they could get onto a Hull-bound ferry.

They made it to Yorkshire six days after they were due in Manchester, but yesterday they still had to find their luggage.