UK airlines are asking customers to give up seats so stranded passengers can be brought home.

Airport news for Travel,Holiday Insurance on 26/04/2010.

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Airlines in the UK are asking customers who have bookings on long-haul flights between now and 2 May to make room for Brits stranded abroad.

While British Airways is asking its passengers to voluntarily give up their seats, Virgin Atlantic says it has already been contact by many customers who volunteered their seats.

British Airways also strenuously denied allegations that it may have given new passengers priority over stranded travelers.

EasyJet has expanded its ability to process stranded travelers while Ryanair has already cleared its backlog of passengers.

Emirates Airline has added more lights but has already brought 6,000 stranded travelers home. American Airlines says it has almost cleared its backlog.

Meanwhile, acrimony over the flight suspensions continued in the wake of the chaos triggered when a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland drifted across Europe.

Sir Richard Branson, head of Virgin, criticized what he saw as an overreaction by authorities and said the ash cloud had never posed any risk to aircraft.

Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown, however, defended the government’s position and said the ensuring the safety of passengers was imperative.

Airlines are thought to have lost up to $1.7 billion dollars due to the travel restrictions. Some bodies put the cost to UK business overall at £3 million per day.

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