DUBAI - The much-anticipated opening of the world’s first Armani Hotel in Dubai has been pushed back by a week as the air travel chaos engulfing Europe delays the arrival of Giorgio Armani and celebrity guests.

The Italian designer was due to arrive in Dubai this week along with hundreds of VIP guests for the star-studded launch of the hotel, located in the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

The opening ceremony will now take place on April 27 instead of April 21, its developer and operator Emaar Properties said in a statement on Sunday.

"Due to the unforeseen closure of European airspace and the subsequent cancellation of international flights, the much anticipated grand opening of Armani Hotel Dubai has been postponed from Wednesday 21st April to Tuesday 27th April 2010,” Emaar said.

Middle East air passengers faced a fourth day of flight cancellations on Sunday with much of European airspace still closed due to a huge cloud of volcanic ash over the continent, caused by a volcanic eruption in Iceland last week.

Many countries closed their airspaces until well into Sunday or Monday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded worldwide and forcing airlines to cancel of flights until at least Monday morning.

Emaar could be forced to delay the launch even further with weather experts warning wind patterns meant the ash cloud was unlikely to move far until later in the week.

And even after flights resume, passengers face the prospect of further delays before they can get to their final destinations as airlines clear the backlog.

The delay to the Armani Hotel is the second in as many months. Emaar in March pushed the opening back by a month, saying it needed more time to make sure "everything was 100 percent perfect".

The hotel will occupy the levels between the concourse and the eighth floor of the Burj Khalifa, and levels 38 and 39. Its 160 rooms were personally designed by Armani.

The Burj Khalifa, whose own opening was delayed a few times, also houses 150 privately owned Armani Residences, which will be handed over to buyers before the hotel opens.

In 2005, Giorgio Armani and Emaar launched an agreement to start Armani Hotels and Resorts, which plans to open at least 10 hotels under the Italian fashion designer’s name within the next decade in locations such as Milan, New York, London and Morocco. - maktoob