PM's aircraft changes route

With ash cloud from Iceland's erupting volcano creating havoc for flights in northern Europe, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is taking a detour on way back from here today, avoiding Frankfurt for stopover.

Singh, who is returning after his two-nation tour of the US and Brazil, will now have a stopover in Johannesburg in South Africa. He will reach home on Saturday afternoon.

The detour has been decided upon in view of the massive ash clouds that have disrupted flight schedule in Europe, official sources said.

Singh, who is currently here in the Brazilian capital for IBSA and BRIC summits, was earlier scheduled to land in Frankfurt in Germany for a technical halt.

However, the ash clouds drifting from Iceland's spewing volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier has forced closure of air space over northern Europe as volcanic ash represented a significant safety threat to aircraft.

The prime minister had been in Washington to attend the Nuclear Security Summit. After his four-day stay there, he arrived here on Wednesday.