Thousands to endure more ash cloud chaos

Published on Tuesday 24 May 2011 19:18

AIR passengers face widespread knock-on disruption from the volcanic ash cloud threatening to cause a third day of travel misery across Scotland.

Thousands of passengers were delayed after more than 500 flights were cancelled yesterday, and the country's two busiest airports stopped all take-offs and landings by early afternoon.

The ash from Iceland's Grimsvtn volcano was expected to leave UK airspace last night, but travellers are likely to suffer continued problems, with aircraft being in the wrong place and airports in other countries now facing closure.

Edinburgh and Glasgow airports warned of yet more delays and cancellations, with KLM grounding some flights today between Scotland and Amsterdam, while flights to Norway, Denmark and Sweden may be hit as the cloud drifts east.

Airport closures could also affect Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin in Germany, where there are tougher safety rules than in the UK. European Union transport commissioner Siim Kallas said passengers and airlines were facing "a very challenging week".

The chaos was accompanied by confusion and anger in the aviation industry over whether it was safe to fly through the ash. Ryanair threatened to flout a ban on flying in the densest clouds.

Meanwhile, train and bus operators reported significant extra demand for cross-Border services.

Megabus ran nine additional coaches between Edinburgh, Glasgow and London yesterday and will put on at least four more today. Virgin Trains put on 3,000 extra seats today, while East Coast said its Edinburgh-London trains were far busier than normal, and ScotRail reported an increase in Scotland-London sleeper bookings. Network Rail said it might cut back on disruptive engineering work this weekend if the problems get worse.

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Prestwick was among the Scottish airports worst affected. It cancelled all flights yesterday, most of which were Ryanair.

Glasgow Airport was also hit hard, operating only 28 of 229 planned flights. It was just as bad at Edinburgh, where only 32 of 317 flights went ahead, while 135 of Aberdeen's 200 flights were grounded, although flights resumed by the afternoon.

British Airways and EasyJet cancelled all Edinburgh and Glasgow flights, but Edinburgh Airport said BMI had operated some services to Heathrow.

However, by mid-afternoon, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports announced all flights would be halted for the rest of the day after National Air Traffic Services said volcanic ash would continue to affect the airports until 1am today.

Prestwick, Tiree and Barra were among other Scottish airports covered.

More than 4,000 passengers were bussed from Glasgow to Manchester airport by Emirates, Thomas Cook, Thomson Airways and Jet2 to join relocated flights.

There was better news in the north, with Loganair flights between Aberdeen and Kirkwall, Aberdeen and Sumburgh and all services between Inverness, Stornoway and Benbecula operating as normal yesterday afternoon.

British Red Cross volunteers spent a second night at Edinburgh Airport helping stranded passengers. The 36-strong team has been working round the clock in shifts since Monday, distributing blankets, hygiene kits and water, and expected to continue until at least 10am today.

Among those held up by the disruption was Celtic manager Neil Lennon, whose flight home to Scotland was hit. He wrote on Twitter: "Stuck in London because of the ash … looks like am going sightseeing today."

A flypast over Moray by Tornado jets to mark the impending closure of RAF Kinloss had to be cancelled.

Unlike last year's ash cloud disruption, when blanket flying bans were imposed, airlines are now permitted to operate flights in areas of low and medium concentration, but not the "red zones" with the most dense concentration of ash.

Ryanair said it had flown two flights from Prestwick into the thickest part of the cloud and found no trace of debris on the aircraft.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary described the Met Office's ash charts as "fictitious" and "entirely unreliable". He said: "You have to ask why a combination of bureaucratic incompetence in the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority] and the Met Office last night (Monday] shut the skies over Scotland when this morning we have now confirmed there is no volcanic ash material in the atmosphere over Scotland."

However, the CAA said the Ryanair plane had not flown through high-density ash and did not have proper recording equipment. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond condemned Mr O'Leary's comments as "irresponsible".

A Ryanair spokesman said it had now asked the CAA to explain why it had contradicted Met Office information over the location of the thickest part of the ash cloud.

British Airways last night sent a plane to test the ash. An Airbus A320 left Manchester bound for Newcastle, Glasgow and Edinburgh before heading south to be inspected at Heathrow.

The International Air Transport Association, which represents most airlines, expressed anger at a new UK government test aircraft being out of service.

Director-general Giovanni Bisignani said: "It is astonishing and unacceptable that Her Majesty's government cashes 3.5 billion each year in air passenger duty, but is incapable of using a small portion of that revenue to purchase another Cessna to use as a back-up aircraft."

The European Cockpit Association, which represents pilots, said it "cannot accept under any circumstances any flights into the red zone, even if these are approved by airlines".

Scottish transport minister Keith Brown said there had been a "communications gap" over getting information about disruption to passengers.

He said: "I think there is a question mark over how quickly we can get the information to individuals who have flights, because we don't get that information ourselves until very late on.

"The new regime that's in place keeps the airspace open, but obliges individual operators to apply for permission to fly in certain circumstances, so in that circumstance we have to wait for that information, as individuals do, from the airlines.

National Air Traffic Services said last night that Met Office readings indicated there would be no ash in airspace over the UK after 1am this morning, but warned that situation could change.

Passengers were told to check with their airlines before travelling today.

Earlier forecasts did show high density levels over parts of the north-eastern Netherlands and northern Germany.