Flight Disruption Eases Off - 'Weekend Clear'

The volcano Grimsvötn has currently paused its eruptions and the Met Office modelling indicates that significant disruption between now and the end of the weekend is unlikely, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has said.

Earlier this week, airline passengers in the UK and Ireland were facing major flight disruption due to drifting ash from the Icelandic volcanic eruption. Airlines including Easyjet, KLM and BA had suspended their services in and out of Scotland, with some English airports also being affected, but these have since resumed.

Now, to help further reduce future disruption that could be caused if there are further eruptions or if the ash cloud returns to UK airspace, the Transport Secretary has held discussions with the two largest UK airlines, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Met Office and NATS.

The Transport Secretary confirmed that progress has been made in several key areas.

Test aircraft have been flying to measure the density of the ash cloud, providing information to the Met Office to help refine the input data for its model.

British Airways and Easyjet have also agreed to work with the CAA and the Met Office to provide information from their flights to help improve the model's input data, with the aim of reducing the 'red zone' as much as possible.

Furthermore, the Transport Secretary has asked NATS and the CAA to draw up procedures to allow flights to arrive and depart from the UK beneath the ash cloud and then gain altitude once they are safely clear of the 'red zone' - a technique known as 'underflying' - should the ash cloud return at high altitude.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said: "The new regime that we have established since last year has already significantly reduced disruption for passengers and airlines. If we still had the old regime in place, the whole of UK airspace would have been effectively closed for parts of yesterday.

"I am pleased that, following discussions with the industry and regulators today, we have agreed further steps to reduce potential disruption, should the ash cloud return.

"Test aircraft are now flying through the ash cloud gathering information about its density, BA and Easyjet have agreed to provide further information to help us define the 'red zone' even more accurately in the future, and key steps have been taken to establish a new 'underflying' regime for UK airports."

Following meetings with British Airways and Easyjet, the two largest British airlines, Mr Hammond said: "We are constantly refining our ash forecasting methods and are keen to collect as much data as possible to help with this. Yesterday, satellite and lidar readings confirmed the presence of ash over Scotland and northern England, several aircraft made reports of encounters with ash to the Met Office and ash deposits were also found on aircraft and on vehicles in Orkney.

"I welcome the support of airlines who want to help us gather further data and I am pleased that British Airways and Easyjet, as the two largest UK carriers, have agreed to participate in this process," he said, earlier this week.

See: Volcanic Ash Cloud Causes Flight Distruption

(BMcC/GK)