News

UPDATE: Ash cloud likely to affect northern UK airports

24 May 2011 by BusinessTraveller

Air navigation services provider NATS says that airports in the north of the UK will be affected by the volcanic ash cloud this afternoon, including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Carlisle and Durham.

The company says that the "Latest information from the Met Office shows that following the recent eruption of Grímsvötn in Iceland, an area of volcanic ash is forecast to affect some parts of the UK between 1300 and 1900 UK time on Tuesday 24 May.

"Airports remain open, however some services may be affected from the following aerodromes including:

  • Londonderry
  • Glasgow
  • Edinburgh Prestwick
  • Newcastle
  • Carlisle
  • Durham Tees Valley
  • Cumbernauld

Carriers including BA, KLM, Easyjet, Ryanair, Loganair and Eastern Airways have already cancelled flights in and out of Scotland this morning (May 24), due to Met Office predictions of a high density of ash within Scottish airspace.

BA said that "Following forecasts of significant volcanic ash in Scottish airspace, British Airways has decided as a precaution that it will not operate any flights between London and Scotland on Tuesday May 24 up until 2pm.

"At present all other flights are unaffected.

"We continue to monitor the situation and remain in close contact with the Civil Aviation Authority, National Air Traffic Services and the Met Office."

Flybe franchise partner Loganair operates the majority of its services within Scotland, and the carrier said that volcanic ash forecasts for Tuesday May 24 "indicate that a high density of ash will be present in large parts of Scottish airspace".

"As a result of this, we have taken the decision to cancel all services with the exception of our inter-isles flights in Orkney. All flights due to depart between 0600 and 1300 hrs tomorrow have therefore been cancelled.  

"You should not travel to the airport and if you are booked on a flight departing tomorrow afternoon, you should check the website for further updates before setting out for the airport."

The carrier added that "We do not yet have firm information relating to tomorrow afternoon’s flights but the expectation from the Met Office is that the presence of volcanic ash will persist throughout the day and will clear progressively on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning".

Easyjet said that "Safety is our number one priority and based on predictions from the Met Office and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, Scotland has been identified as potentially having a high density of ash concentration from 0600 on 24th May 2011.

"As a result of this the Civil Aviation Authority has declared a temporary danger area over Scotland and we have made the decision not to fly to / from the following airports : Inverness, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow"

KLM has cancelled flights from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Newcastle today (May 24), while Eastern Airways has cancelled 50 flights in and out of Scotland. The carrier operates a large number of routes to and from the oil city of Aberdeen, including Newcastle, Liverpool, Bristol and Southampton - all these services have been cancelled for tomorrow.

For more information visit ba.comloganair.co.uk, easternairways.com, klm.com, easyjet.com.

Have your flights been affected by the latest volcanic eruption? Take part in our survey here.

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