JAMAICA Football Fed-eration (JFF) president Captain Horace Burrell and general secretary Horace Reid are stuck in Switzerland as the lockdown of large portions of Europe’s airspace reached frightening proportions yesterday.

Burrell and Reid were scheduled to have left Zurich on Friday for Jamaica, through London, but were grounded as drifting ash from the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano in Iceland has blanketed the skies over parts of Europe making it unsafe for air travel.

Due to the dangerous plumes of ash billowing high above and across the continent — the world’s busiest airspace — thousands of flights have been cancelled and hundreds of airports closed, especially in western and northern Europe.

Tens of thousands of travellers worldwide, including hundreds of England-bound passengers here in Jamaica have been affected.

Based on reports, more than 20 continental countries, plus the United Kingdom, have shut down — in part or whole — their air operations.

As the volcano spews its venom skyward, officials could not offer travellers any comfort as the situation is expected to grow worse over the coming days.

Burrell — a member of FIFA’s powerful Disciplinary Committee and who, along with Reid, was attending meetings at FIFA headquarters in Zurich — said the delay will affect a number of football-related and and personal engagements he had planned in Jamaica.

His week of engagements was to have started with yesterday’s final of the Flow Champions Cup between first-time finalist Humble Lion and August Town at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.

“I am disappointed that I will not make the Flow final, but I will take this opportunity to congratulate both finalists,” he said yesterday from a train bound to the Swiss city of Bern, where he and Reid visited with a football colleague.

Burrell said the situation grows graver by the day as more European airports are shutting down operations.

“Officials here cannot say exactly when things will improve so air travel can resume… there is even talk that this thing could go on for six months, and even a year,” he said.

Burrell conceded that he explored numerous potential avenues of getting out, but came up blank on each attempt.

“We (with Reid) had intended to go by train to France and to see where we could go from there, but the train stations here (Switzerland) were overflowing with stranded people and tickets were sold out,” he said.

Since then, France has ordered its airports closed.

But Burrell, an experienced traveller, said there is little hope at this time and he and Reid had no choice but to “sit tight and be patient until the situation improves”.

“Safety is first, and, as a traveller, things like this will happen. In this case, it’s Mother Nature who has spoken and we have to respect that. Hopefully, this will pass and make the air safe again so we can return home and get on with our lives,” he added.

Reid said as the situation enters its fifth day and with a sense of general hopelessness among jittery travellers, he was not necessarily fearful at this time, but more “concerned” with the deteriorating situation.

“We are concerned at this time as nobody seems to be able to tell us when things will get better, plus the news that more of Europe’s gateways are closing down by the day offers no comfort,” he said.

“Right now I wouldn’t say that I am anxious, but you know when you are away for a while, home will be on your mind,” added Reid, a long-time ally of Burrell.

The JFF boss and his general secretary were due to have departed Zurich by British Airways on Friday for London, where they were then due to make connections to Miami, and from there onto Kingston. They were to have landed in Jamaica on Saturday evening.

Burrell was in the Swiss city to attend hearings of FIFA Disciplinary Committee, after which he joined Reid for sessions with the FIFA Technical Branch to discuss a proposal that will see Jamaica being used as a pilot for the WIN in CONCACAF for CONCACAF programme.