Liverpool, Fulham eye overland Europa trips

Liverpool and Fulham could follow Barcelona and Lyon’s lead in travelling overland for their respective Europa League semi-final ties this week due to ongoing air travel restrictions.

A volcanic eruption in Iceland is continuing to play havoc with travel plans for many international events although some clubs, such as Barcelona, are taking a proactive approach.

Following the close of the city’s airport Barcelona will travel overland to Italy on Sunday and Monday ahead of their Champions League semi-final first leg against Inter Milan on Tuesday.

Lyon will adopt similar measures if, as expected, they are unable to fly to Munich for their semi-final against German side Bayern on Wednesday.

While Liverpool face Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final, Fulham also face a trip to Germany on Thursday when they will meet SV Hamburg.

The London club’s manager, Roy Hodgson, said representatives from UEFA had already been in touch with the club and they stressed the importance of all clubs playing their ties fairly.

But Hodgson admitted the club are already considering travelling to Germany by train and bus if restrictions continue to be applied to airports in London.

“One of UEFA’s concerns is that it should be fair and that their opponents don’t have to go through hell and high water to get to the game,” said Hodgson.

“An ideal scenario would be that the volcanic ash clears up and we can fly over to Germany.

“It’s totally and utterly linked to if there are flights. If there are no flights then the only option is to get a train and bus to Hamburg.

“There could still be a further problems because there might be no trains or coaches to travel on, but I’m confident UEFA will resolve the problem.”

British airspace has been closed for several days as a result of the ash which has blown across Europe from a volcano in Iceland.

UEFA are set to monitor the situation in the coming days and could make an announcement on Monday.

On Sunday British Airways announced it had cancelled all inbound and outbound London flights scheduled for Monday, due to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland.

“Following further information from the Met Office about the path of the volcanic ash affecting UK airspace and airlines, there will continue to be severe disruption to our schedule,” BA said in a brief statement.

“All British Airways flights to and from London airports are cancelled on Sunday 18 and Monday 19 April.”