Stranded Ice Blacks coming home

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Three Queenstown members of the Ice Blacks team trapped in Finland after a volcanic cloud disrupted flights throughout Europe will soon be homeward bound.

The Queenstown-based manager of New Zealand's ice hockey team, Charlie Reid, along with Queenstown team members Bert Haines and Brett Speirs have been stranded in Helsinki after attending the division two world championships in Estonia.

The team had stayed at hotels paid for by travel insurance, but was looking forward to boarding New Zealand-bound flights, which were to leave Finland today (NZ time), Mr Reid's wife Andrea said yesterday.

Immediate past president of the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation, Queenstown man Graeme Glass, yesterday said the Ice Blacks arrived in Finland on Saturday, but since being stranded had filled in their time with a cruise to Sweden, and by watching Finnish ice hockey games.

The team had done well, beating top-ranked division two teams Israel and China in the tournament, Mr Glass said.

New Zealand Hotel Council Queenstown branch chairman John McIlwain yesterday said although the Queenstown hotel industry had been affected in only a minor way by the grounding of international flights, major flow-on effects could have been felt had the situation continued.

"It is an absolute relief to have planes flying again," he said.

"The longer the situation dragged out, the bigger the potential grew for it to turn into a major issue, and to have passengers moving again is not just good for our industry, but for the whole of New Zealand tourism."

Base Queenstown manager Matt Hirst yesterday said a collective sigh of relief had gone through backpackers in Queenstown, some of whom were facing extended stays on depleted budgets because of flights being grounded.

"We were prepared to offer free accommodation to backpackers who had been staying with us if they got stranded," he said.

"But it didn't come down to that and everyone who could have been affected is now on their merry way."

- © Fairfax NZ News