Thousands of Scottish air passengers have been left in limbo again as ash from an Icelandic volcano grounded flights across the country.
But on Tuesday transport secretary Philip Hammond held out hope that the worst was over, saying that the volcanic ash plume was getting smaller and less intense.
He said that south-westerly winds were likely to take the ash away from the UK and that he was “cautiously optimistic” that disruption would be kept to a minimum from now on.
Mr Hammond also revealed that the government had bought a special aircraft to test the intensity of ash levels but that the plane would not be operational until next month or early July.
He said, “It is unlikely that there will be significant disruption to UK airports after tonight.”
A spokesman for Loganair, which operates flights between Dundee and Birmingham, said, “Forecasts issued by the UK Met Office show that the high-density area of ash emitted by the Grimsvotn volcano is moving away to the east overnight tonight.
“We are therefore planning to operate flights on all routes tomorrow, Wednesday, May 25.”
Mr Hammond spoke after chairing a meeting of Cobra, the emergency planning committee.
He explained that flights were able to operate with levels of ash 20 times greater than permitted during last year’s Icelandic ash cloud crisis.
Earlier, as ash drifted across Scotland, all flights to and from Dundee were cancelled.’Incompetent bureaucratic backsides’Although the Civil Aviation Authority has said disruption to flights will be less severe than during the Eyjafjallajokull eruption last year, flights from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Prestwick were also cancelled.
Between 200 and 250 flights across Europe were cancelled much to the annoyance of several airlines, who claimed there was no need to ground so many flights.
The Loganair spokesman said, “The eruption of the Grimsvotn volcano in Iceland on Saturday evening has led to a significant amount of ash being emitted into the atmosphere, which prevailing winds have carried towards parts of UK airspace.
“Although much progress has been made since last April’s airspace closures, as a result of which we are now able to operate flights safely in areas where low or medium densities of volcanic ash are present, safety considerations still preclude the operation of flights in any area where high densities of ash are carried in the air.”
CityJet also cancelled their flights between Dundee and London City.
However, budget airline Ryanair said the grounding of so many flights in and out of Scotland had been unnecessary and became embroiled in a row with Mr Hammond.
The company carried out a test flight at 41,000 feet on Tuesday and chief executive Michael O’Leary said the flight proved there was “no volcanic cloud” over the country.
Mr O’Leary said the CAA’s so-called ‘red zone’ an area of high-density ash was “non-existent, mythical and a misguided invention.”
He said, “There’s nothing over the skies of Scotland, there is no volcanic ash cloud over Scotland, there’s no volcanic material over Scotland.
“Would the CAA please take their finger out of their incompetent bureaucratic backsides and allow the aircraft back into the skies over Scotland.”
He added, “It’s not about picking up the tab for the debacle it’s about learning about the mess and the mismanagement of last year and not repeating the same bureaucratic bungling or mistakes that were made last year.”
But Mr Hammond accused Ryanair of using “very inflammatory language.”Industry ‘better prepared’He said, “If they (Ryanair) don’t believe in the red zone modelling, it’s up to them to put forward a safety case to their regulator, which is the Irish Aviation Authority.”
He added, “The radar track information suggests that the Ryanair aircraft that Mr O’Leary has been referring to that flew over Scotland this morning did not fly in any red zone, so in fact all he has done is confirm the CAA’s own model, which showed there was no ash in the areas where that aircraft flew.”
A spokeswoman for Highlands and Islands Airports (HIAL), which operates Dundee airport, said there had been “a number of precautionary flight cancellations.”
The company monitored the situation throughout the day and restored some flights by mid-afternoon.
However, passengers travelling from any of HIAL’s 11 airports have been urged to contact individual airlines for further information.
BA, KLM, Aer Lingus and EasyJet also suspended services in and out of Scotland.
BA cancelled flights to and from Edinburgh and Glasgow all afternoon, although the airline restored flights to Aberdeen by 2.30pm.
But air traffic control company Nats said the volcanic ash cloud will continue to affect flights from some airports in Scotland and some in northern England until at least 1am on Wednesday.
The CAA said that new arrangements put in place since last year’s ash cloud would ensure public safety while limiting any disruption.
Chief executive Andrew Haines said, “We can’t rule out disruption, but the new arrangements that have been put in place since last year’s ash cloud mean the aviation sector is better prepared and will help to reduce any disruption in the event that volcanic ash affects UK airspace.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user NASA Goddard Photo and Video.