Volcano cloud latest: Planes grounded in England and Wales until 7am tomorrow but Scottish airspace will re-open tonight

Updated: 11:05 EDT, 16 April 2010

The National Air Traffic Service (NATs) has advised this afternoon that British airspace over England and Wales will remain closed until 7am tomorrow.

But it is likely the time will be extended as Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajökull shows no sign of subsiding.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said travellers could expect 'significant disruption' to services for at least the next 48 hours.

The good news for those north of the border though is that much of Scotland's airspace will be opened again at 7pm this evening.

A statement on the NATs website posted at 2:45pm reads: 'Following a review of the latest Met Office information, NATS advises that restrictions preventing flights in controlled airspace over England and Wales will remain in place until 0700 (UK time) tomorrow, Saturday 17 April, at the earliest.

From 1900 (UK time) today ATC restrictions will be lifted in a large part of Scottish airspace including Scottish airports, Shetland, Orkneys and also Northern Ireland.'

[caption]

Many British families are stranded in Spain where Malaga airport, on the Costa del Sol, was one of the worst hit, with the loss of 102 flights.

Twenty of the 50 flights from Madrid were axed this morning, as were 26 of the 127 to and from Tenerife. Smaller airports including Seville, Valencia, Murcia and Menorca were also expected to cancel all their flights.

The Met Office has only issued weather predictions until 1am tomorrow, but these show the ash cloud — at 30,000 feet, the altitude used by commercial airliners — widening its grip over the southern half of England.

A Met Office spokeswoman said this morning: 'At the moment I don’t think the weather patterns are changing much.'

With the source of the ash - a volcano 700 miles away in Iceland - still spewing smoke into the atmosphere, there are already fears the chaos could go on for days if not weeks.

Some experts said there could be disruption for six months as a result of contaminated air drifting over northern Europe.

No jet planes can fly except in an emergency because the dust causes their engines to fail.

Health officials have told those with conditions such as asthma to stay indoors.

The cancellations have already caused the greatest mayhem to air travel since the Second World War.

This morning there were few passengers at UK airports - which usually cater for 500,000 people a day - with most choosing to stay home.

At 7am, normally one of the busiest times of the day, Newcastle International Airport was deserted.

Check-in desks were unstaffed and the only people waiting around appeared to be airport employees, police or air crew.

A spokesman for Heathrow confirmed staff were coming into work as usual but said passengers were still being advised to keep away.

Aberdeen airport also remained open but was 'very quiet'.

[caption]

Glasgow Airport, meanwhile, was preparing to deal with a handful of flights made possible by a 'window of opportunity' in the volcanic ash. 

BAA Glasgow spokesman Donald Morrison said: 'The vast of majority of flights will not be operating, however between 1am and 1pm today there is a window of opportunity that might allow for some flights between Glasgow, the western isles, Northern Ireland and the North Atlantic if weather conditions permit.

'We have staff on stand-by to allow for flights to operate. We've got check in and security staff on the ground to facilitate that.'

He advised passengers to check with their airline before leaving for the airport as most flights are still suspended.

A limited number of flights are also running to and from Northern Ireland.

Last night the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) lifted restrictions on flights to and from Cork and Shannon Airports and some of the regional airports, but restrictions would remain in force in Dublin until late this morning.

The services will do little to help hundreds of thousands of travellers stranded by the chaos.

Families returning from the Easter break will be particularly affected with many children due to return to school on Monday.

The Health Protection Agency said the ash will cause itchy eyes, a runny nose, sore throat or dry mouth when the particles land.

Those with bronchitis, emphysema and asthma were advised to stay inside because the ash could seriously inflame their conditions.

The ash, which will drift down from the north of the country, was predicted to appear as a dusty haze and may smell of sulphur or rotten eggs, or strongly acidic.

A spokesman for the HPA said: 'Any health effects are likely to be short term.'

Reports from Iceland said the eruption spewing ash into the atmosphere from Mount Eyjafjallokull showed no sign of abating after almost two days of activity.

A spokesman for the Icelandic Met Office said: 'It is likely that the production of ash will continue at a comparable level for some days or weeks. But where it disrupts travel, that depends on the weather. It depends how the wind carries the ash.'

Even if the current eruption subsides within days, it may not be the end of the travel chaos that the volcano can cause.

It last erupted in the 19th century and Bill McGuire, professor at the Aon Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre, based at University College London, said if the volcano continued erupting for more than 12 months, as it did the last time, periodic disruptions to air traffic could continue.

He added: 'A lot depends on the wind. I would expect this shutdown to last a couple of days. But if the eruption continues  -  and continues to produce ash  -  we could see repeated disruption over six months or so.'

Even without further groundings, the knock-on effect of the initial disruption will take days to clear with planes, passengers and crew all in the wrong place.

In a blanket move  -  worse even than in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror atrocity  -  air traffic controllers were forced to completely close British airspace at midday yesterday as the volcano pumped massive clouds of ash thousands of feet into the air.

The huge dust cloud, unseen from the ground, slowly drifted across northern Europe at the height that jets cruise across the skies.

[caption]

[caption]

The volcanic ash contains tiny particles of rock and even glass which, when sucked into an aircraft's jet engine, can potentially cause them to fail.

While skies above the UK remained clear but eerily quiet, runways emptied and planes were grounded, the air lockdown  -  the first in living memory  -  meant misery for millions.

The travel chaos spread across mainland Europe, with airspace closed in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark and all northbound flights from France and Spain cancelled. The closing of UK skies led to a rush for seats on Eurostar, bus and train operators and ferries.

Millions face losing their holidays or the prospect of punishing bills as a result of the airport shutdown.

Those who booked flights as part of holidays they organised themselves are being offered a refund of their ticket price, but there is no right to compensation.

Airlines were yesterday clinging to a smallprint get-out clause in EU law that means they are not liable where cancellation is 'caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided'.

Many airlines will allow people to transfer their booking to the next available flight without extra charge. However seats are scarce and this could be days away.

[caption]

[caption]

The net result is that people who have lost their flights face being hit with big penalty charges associated with any hotel and car hire bookings that they cannot take up.

In theory, airlines should step in and help people who are stranded overseas because their return flights have been cancelled. This means providing hotel accommodation, meals and telephone calls until a new flight has been arranged.

However, it could be days before their airline finds them a flight home because most seats are fully booked around the Easter holidays.

As passengers scrambled to find other means of leaving the UK, Gordon Brown said the suspension of flights was a temporary decision and would be reviewed 'at all times'.

But he added: 'Safety is the first and predominant consideration, and if any travelling public are inconvenienced I apologise for that, but it is important that everybody's safety comes first.'

Nobody was able to beat the flying ban. Those caught up included the Duchess of Cornwall, who had been due to fly from Aberdeen to London, and LibDem Treasury spokesman Vince Cable, who had to cancel election campaigning in Scotland.

There was one upside, however, with weather experts predicting that the particles in the atmosphere could cause some spectacular sunsets over the coming days.