- ORAN, Algeria: Algerian state airline Air Algerie is sending passengers to France by ferry because Iceland's volcanic ash cloud has shuttered French airports.
Air Algerie CEO Abdelwahid Bouabdallah has told The Associated Press, “as of this morning we are sending tourists back by boat” to France.
He says there are worries that the cloud could spread across the Mediterranean.
He spoke Sunday in Oran, Algeria, where his airline is sponsoring an international meeting of gas-producing countries.
Algeria's oil ministry has postponed the opening of the forum from Sunday to Monday because of the travel delays.
Bouabdallah says Air Algerie, which heavily depends on Franco-Algerian migrants, is losing $2.4 million per day to the airport closures.