Britain on Monday reopened its airspace, especially over Heathrow and Gatwick Airports, which mainly serve London, after flights had been disrupted over presence of a new volcanic ash cloud in the atmosphere.
“The CAA has lifted the no-fly zone that has been affecting flights at Heathrow and Gatwick until 7 pm on Monday. The decision comes following further information from the met office about the density and location of the ash cloud,” the UK air traffic control service said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
“There are no restrictions at airports in Northern Ireland, England or Wales during this period. From 1 pm-7 pm, the no-fly zone remains in place only in the Orkney and Shetland Islands,” a NATS spokesperson said. At the Heathrow Airport, which reopened on Monday morning, there were no flight restrictions in place, its operator BAA said.
However, upto 1,000 flights in Europe were affected by the closures. Hundreds of flights, especially at Heathrow, had to be cancelled or were delayed on Monday morning due to disruption caused by Icelandic volcanic eruption. Indian airline firm Kingfisher cancelled its London flights on Monday, but Jet Airways and Air India were operating their flights. Meanwhile, flights were landing and taking off from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport but authorities warned travellers it would take time for airlines to clear the backlog of delayed flights and to contact their airlines before going to the airport. Eurocontrol, the continent’s air traffic control agency, said 28,000 flights were expected on Monday in Europe, about 1,000 less than normal, mainly due to the disruptions in Britain and the Netherlands.
Icelandic civil protection official Agust Gunnar Gylfason said the ash cloud was travelling to the north, forcing airports in Keflavik and Reykjavik to close. Germany sent up two test flights on Sunday to measure the ash cloud, but there was no word yet on the results of those tests. Still, Germany said on Monday the latest ash cloud should not affect its airports. Eurostar added four extra trains on Monday, an additional 3,500 seats, between London and Paris to help travellers cope with the airport closures.