ABOUT 100 passengers hoping to travel from Belfast to Canada with low-cost airline Zoom have been accommodated on other flights or have made other arrangements after the company went into administration.
A spokeswoman for Belfast International Airport at Aldergrove said yesterday no passengers remained stranded in the terminal after Zoom folded on Thursday citing escalating fuel costs.
The company said: "The suspension of operations is a result of the exceptionally difficult trading conditions which have affected all airlines over the last 12 months.
"We have worked hard over the last seven years to build up a successful business, but have incurred losses in the current year due to the unprecedented increase in the price of aviation fuel and the economic climate.
"The increase in the price of oil has added around $50 million [€34 million] to our annual operating costs and we could not recover that from passengers who had already booked their flights.
"We are extremely sorry for [ the] unavoidable actions," the company said.
A spokesman for the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) warned that other airlines were likely to struggle due to the rising costs of aviation fuel.
The Thursday evening service from Cardiff to Vancouver, which stops in Belfast, was grounded when the airline said it was forced to suspend all flights.
The airport spokeswoman said emergency provisions had been made available for stranded passengers while alternative routes were found.
"The vast majority of passengers left the airport within a short time of hearing the news of the airline's collapse and the subsequent cancellation of their flight," she said.
"The Belfast International Airport website carries information on alternative flights and routing to Canada for Zoom passengers."
Some 4,500 passengers across Britain and Northern Ireland were affected by the collapse of Zoom, while a further 60,000 bookings have been lost, the Civil Aviation Authority said yesterday.
Passengers left on the ground are covered by varying levels of consumer protection. Those with Zoom flights which were bought as part of a package have the best cover, while those who paid for their tickets with credit cards have some chance of getting their money back.
SDLP deputy leader Alasdair McDonnell was critical of Zoom, saying: "To pull all flights at this late stage when people have actually boarded planes shows poor management and planning by this airline."
He added: "There is a responsibility on Zoom to do all it can to ensure passengers get alternative flights to Canada and that those passengers stranded in Canada get back to Belfast. "I would also urge other operations to do all they can to help these passengers out."