Fulham can fly to final as ash cloud fears subside

Fulham expect no disruption to their travel plans for the Europa League final after fears that the volcanic ash cloud would spread eased yesterday. The club, who had made alternative arrangements in case the situation deteriorated, will fly to Hamburg from London as scheduled this morning.

Flights between London and Hamburg were running as normal yesterday, saving supporters travelling to tomorrow's final from the nightmare prospect of finding a different route.

Manager Roy Hodgson had urged Uefa to consider postponing the match if the ash caused more travel chaos, while, as a precaution, opponents Atletico Madrid left for Germany yesterday, 24 hours earlier than planned.

Fulham were yesterday issued with a new, "very limited", allocation of tickets for the final. Supporters were furious after the initial 12,650 allocation sold out within four hours, prompting the club to request more. The shortage occurred because season ticket holders were able to buy up to four tickets for the final. In their defence the club said they were surprised by the "unprecedented demand".