Thousands face volcanic ash cloud flight cancellations

About 400 passengers spent the night at Edinburgh airport

Thousands of passengers face UK flight cancellations because of drifting ash from an Icelandic volcanic eruption.

BA, KLM, Aer Lingus and Easyjet are among the airlines that have chosen to suspend services in and out of Scotland for the coming hours.

But Ryanair has objected to an order from Irish officials to ground its morning flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen on safety grounds.

It said it would be complaining about the "unnecessary cancellations".

A statement on Ryanair's website read: "Ryanair strongly object to this decision and believe that there is no basis for these flight cancellations and will be meeting with the [Irish Aviation Authority] on Tuesday morning to have this restriction on Ryanair flights removed as a matter of urgency."

The cancellations come just over a year after another volcanic eruption in Iceland caused widespread disruption across Europe, including the closure of UK airspace, amid concerns about the damage volcanic ash could cause to engine aircraft.

This year, in the UK, the decision on whether to fly or not in ash cloud conditions is down to individual airlines, although they have to apply to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for final approval.

The transport secretary said the UK was "better" prepared than it had been in 2010.

Philip Hammond told BBC Two's Newsnight there were now "much more robust systems" in place to "minimise the disruptive effect" and there was now a better understanding of the risk from ash clouds.

"Most importantly, the basic situation now is that the threshold for most aircraft is 20 times where it was last year. We have got from 200 microgrammes per cubic metre to 4,000 microgrammes per cubic metre as the threshold up to which most aircraft can fly."

But he added travellers had got to learn to live with such disruption caused by volcanic activity in Iceland following an "unusually quiet period" in the last 20 years.

He added: "What we can't promise is that there won't be disruption when there is a major natural event like this."

The Grimsvotn volcano in Vatnajokull National Park began erupting on Saturday.

Iceland's airspace has been closed for a period as a result but experts say this eruption is on a different scale to the one last year and ash particles are larger and, as a result, fall to the ground more quickly.

However, the threat of disruption saw US President Barack Obama arrive in the UK from the Republic of Ireland on Monday night, a day ahead of his scheduled arrival for his state visit.

A number of airlines are choosing not to fly through Scottish airspace on Tuesday:

• British Airways is not operating any flights between London and Scotland until 1400 BST
• KLM cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Newcastle as well as flights from Durham Tees Valley Airport
• EasyJet cancelled flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen scheduled for between 0500 and 0900 BST
• Ryanair said it has been advised by the Irish Aviation Authority not to operate flights from Glasgow Prestwick, Edinburgh or Aberdeen until at least 1300 BST but believed that "there is no basis for these flight cancellations"
• Flybe cancelled flights to and from Aberdeen and Inverness
• Glasgow-based Loganair has cancelled 36 flights. Only inter-island routes in Orkney are unaffected
• Eastern Airways will not be operating any services in or out of Scottish airspace

Since last year, the CAA has graded ash levels as low, medium or high, and airlines are notified if levels reach medium or high.

All British aircraft can fly in medium-density ash but the airlines need to consider whether to fly, according to risk assessments.

A CAA spokesman said the current cloud could "potentially" cause serious disruption as charts showed that the ash density below 35,000ft had reached the highest level at more than 4,000 microgrammes per cubic metre.

But he said procedures were "totally different" compared with last year.

He added: "If an airline has done a risk assessment as to how it will fly safely in medium or high ash levels, and has liaised with aircraft manufacturers and engine makers, then they will be able to fly if the CAA considers it acceptable.

"No UK airline has applied to fly in high-density ash, but a number have applied for, and been given, permission for flying in medium ash."

The Met Office says changing wind patterns make it hard to predict whether the ash cloud will spread because weather systems are changing so rapidly.

It forecast that the plume could hit parts of Scotland between 0100 and 0700 BST before moving on to Northern Ireland and other northern areas of the UK later in the day.

During last April's six-day shutdown only a handful of flights took off or landed in the UK.

Thousands of Britons found themselves stranded overseas, forcing many to make long and expensive journeys home by land. Airlines estimated the shutdown cost them $1.7bn (£1.1bn).

The Foreign Office is advising passengers to remain in regular contact with their travel agent or airline for the latest news on the status of flights and bookings.