Hotels' volcanic bookings boost will continue into weekend

The UK’s air traffic control service NATS has advised the current flight restrictions affecting UK travel should not be lifted until 7am tomorrow (17 April), meaning thousands of travellers will be forced to find accommodation for another night.​

Restrictions have been in place since Thursday evening since a volcano in Iceland erupted, spewing ash into the atmosphere that could be damaging to aeroplanes.

The maximum occupancy that many airport and city hotels across the UK enjoyed last night as travellers fought to find a bed, is expected to be repeated once again today.

Travelodge’s airport hotels, which reached maximum occupancy last night, are now fully booked over the entire weekend, as stranded passengers make provisions in case the restrictions are not lifted by tomorrow.

However, a spokesperson for online hotel booking service LateRooms.com said while many London hotels were already booked up by lunchtime today, there were still rooms available in ‘a variety of locations’.

“The situation concerning the volcanic ash cloud has caused large amounts of travel disruption, however, LateRooms.com does have hotel rooms available in the capital at different rates.”

Regional hotel cancellations​

Some hotels operating in the regions however have seen trade drop off as inbound tourists have been forced to cancel reservations.

The Vineyard Group’s Harpenden House Hotel near Luton airport has seen 20 per cent of its bookings cancelled, all of which were from inbound travellers. Von Essen, which operates 30 hotels in many rural locations across the UK, has also seen business affected by the flight disruption.

Greg Ward, executive director of sales and marketing for Von Essen, said: "We've seen a small impact as a result of the volcano with the majority of clients adjusting their dates and rebooking."

NATS will review Met office data and update advisory information at 8.30pm this evening.