35,000 U.K. Fliers Still Stranded As Airlines Work Through Volcano Backlog

The Associated Press headline is that "most ash-stranded Europeans" should be home by sometime today.

But read into the story and there's this:

"Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Britain's ABTA, which represents British travel agents and tour operators, said about 100,000 stranded British travelers should have been returned home by Monday morning. About 35,000 more will remain marooned until Friday, the group said."

I added the bold for emphasis.

It's worth noting that the volcano beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier began spewing ash into the sky on April 14 -- 12 days ago. As the AP notes, "more than 100,000 flights were canceled and airlines are on track to lose more than $2 billion." The concern: That the glass-like particles in the sky could damage jet engines.

Much smaller numbers of travelers from elsewhere are also still not at their final destinations, AP says.