Dozens of flights out of SeaTac International Airport to London, Amsterdam, Paris and Frankfurt have been canceled due to the continuing eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

British Airways canceled its flight from Seattle to London-Heathrow. Delta/KLM canceled its flight to Amsterdam, and Lufthansa canceled service to Frankfurt. Air France canceled its flight to Paris.

Representatives of Mercer Island’s two travel agencies, Continental and Admiral Travel, have said that no known Island residents have yet been affected by the flight cancellations. However, they have had several off-Island clients affected.

“I had a guy call today,” said Continental Travel agent Rick Long. “It was a corporate account. They were set to fly to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but we had to rebook them via the Pacific Ocean, from here to Korea.”

Erica Hauck of Admiral Travel said that she has had several clients concerned about flights to Europe booked a week from now.

“I had a woman call worried about a flight scheduled for April 30,” she said. “All I could say was, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Islander Brynn Reagan, who is currently in Spain with her mother, Susan, is worried that she may not fly out as planned on April 23.

“My mom’s flight is direct to JFK [International Airport], then to SeaTac [International Airport], which probably won’t be affected, but my flight is supposed to go to Brussels first, then to JFK, and then to SeaTac. We are just standing by to see what will happen by this Friday,” Reagan said in an e-mail to the Reporter on April 18.

According to European news reports, flights to and from northern and central Europe, the majority of which have been cancelled since April 15, are only just starting to resume. Airports in southern Europe were open by Monday, and Spain offered to become an emergency hub for the whole continent.

Several flights out of Seattle, such as Lufthansa’s Seattle-Frankfurt nonstop, resumed on Monday.

With hundreds of thousands of passengers unable to fly, the Icelandic volcano has caused the greatest disruption to commercial aviation since Sept. 11.

No-fly zones were introduced in many countries including Britain, Ireland and northern Europe. A sprawling area of airspace from the Atlantic to the Russian borders, and from the Alps to the Arctic Sea, was closed until Tuesday, when airline losses surged past $1 billion.

Although the eruption has subsided, scientists are yet unable to definitively predict when the Eyjafjallajökull volcano will return to dormancy.

Hauck said that most customers with travel insurance will be covered, since flight cancellations due to the volcano are considered weather-related.

“There’s always something — a volcano, a winter storm, an earthquake. That’s why people need to buy travel insurance,” she said. “If you don’t have insurance, you’re going to miss your cruise in Europe and won’t be refunded. Plus, many European hotels don’t refund money like American hotels do.”

Hauck always offers her clients Travel Guard insurance, which covers trip cancellations, interruptions and delays, missed connections, baggage loss, along with potential emergency medical transportation. The family plan also covers children age 17 and under at no additional cost.

“If you don’t have insurance in situations like this [volcanic eruption], you’re going to be sorry,” she said.

Long agrees. He added that, even after the volcanic ash dissipates, flights will be backed up for at least a week.

“It’s hard to say what will happen. But there will definitely be a back-up,” the Continental travel agent said, adding that most airlines are “being flexible about waiving fees and re-accommodating people.”

Until then, travelers with tickets to Europe will just have to hold their breath and hope that Mother Nature cools down sooner rather than later.

Updated information on flights is available on airline Web sites or at www.flightstats.com.