Volcanic ash crisis: emergency talks
Updated on 19 April 2010
Gordon Brown announces aircraft carriers will be made available for the relief effort, as one expert suggests there are "grounds for optimism" that the volcanic ash is dispersing.
Restrictions on UK flights will remain in place until at least 1am tomorrow, air traffic control company Nats said today.
The government has deployed two Royal Navy ships to ferry passengers back to Britain as restrictions on UK flights remained in place for the fifth day.
HMS Ark Royal and HMS Ocean, a 20,000 tonne helicopter carrier, will be made available for the relief effort, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, after a meeting of the emergency planning committee Cobra in Whitehall. HMS Ocean is likely to operate some sort of cross-Channel shuttle service.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis confirmed today the government was considering using Spain as a hub to repatriate UK citizens stranded abroad, with the help of the navy. And he said he could not rule out a bail-out of the aviation industry if firms were faced with ruin as a result of the current crisis.
Gordon Brown defended the continuing flight ban saying the safety of air passengers was "paramount" when dealing with crisis caused by the volcanic ash cloud.
Meanwhile, an Open University scientist has said "there are grounds for cautious optimism" that the volcanic ash cloud could be dispersing.
Dr David Rothery, of the Open University's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, has said that webcam images at drawn this morning have revealed a "change in character" of the summit eruption at Eyjafjallajokull.
If this situation persists, he says, "then the high altitude ash cloud will be starved of fresh ash, and will eventually disperse".
An estimated 150,000 Britons have not been able to return to the UK because of the flight restrictions, the travel association Abta said. Around two million Britons were thought to have gone abroad during the Easter holiday.
Following advice from the Met Office, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said yesterday it was unsafe for flights to take place across most of northern Europe today.
Ministers met at 10 Downing street yesterday, declaring everything was being done to help people return home. This includes the possibility of deploying Royal Navy vessels to collect passengers.
Advice for travellers
The Foreign Office has launched a special advice line for callers in the UK concerned about relatives stranded overseas. The number is 020 7008 0000.
A British Airways Boeing 747 took to the skies yesterday to carry out a test flight of the conditions. The jumbo jet, carrying Willie Walsh, the airline's chief executive, completed a flight in "perfect" conditions without encountering and difficulties, BA said.
The plane took off from London's Heathrow Airport at 5.55pm yesterday before flying 550 miles due west of Cardiff, landing at Cardiff Airport in south Wales at 8.41pm. The flight, which took the aircraft out over the Atlantic Ocean, lasted two hours and 46 minutes.
The flight was among a handful of tests taken by some European airlines. Data from the flights will be considered today when European transport ministers are expected to hold a video conference.
As the "tremendous financial pressure" on airlines mounted, Prime Minister Gordon Brown telephoned Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to discuss possible ways that the Spanish could help stranded British travellers.
A No.10 spokeswoman said Mr Brown and Mr Zapatero discussed how Spain could be used as a hub for British travellers as its airspace remains open.
Airspace across much of Europe was closed last week after a plume of ash travelled south from Iceland after a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjallajokull. The volcano erupted on 20 March after almost 200 years of inactivity.
Experts say tiny particles of rock, glass and sand contained in the ash cloud could jam aircraft engines.
Meanwhile, rock veterans Status Quo are stranded in Moscow. They face a lengthy rail and road slog to get home as a result of the air travel crisis.
