The reopening of skies over London's Heathrow airport on Wednesday brought about an end to the long wait suffered by many people who had been stranded in Singapore for almost a week.

Many passengers spent the first few nights in the country's Changi airport after Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano sent a plume of ash over Europe's skies, but by the weekend Singapore Airlines said it had paid for all its customers to stay in hotels.

The gesture has earned Singapore a lot of praise.

Al Jazeera's Laura Kyle has this report.