British Airways have announced that UK airspace remains closed due to
Volcanic Ash from the Iceland Volcano Eruption.
Even though airspace over most of Europe is now clear for flights and British
Airways had planned to have a large majority of their flights in operation it
looks like flight will not be departing Heathrow today, however there is a good
chance some short and long haul into Heathrow may arrive today (Subject to
Airspace restrictions).
The full media release from British Airways can be read below:
Despite the fact that airspace over most European countries is open, UK
airspace remains effectively closed.
With other UK airlines, British
Airways is working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to provide data that
would enable the Authority to complete a risk assessment relating to the
operation of aircraft in UK airspace.
We hope that on the basis of the data
provided by the industry, the CAA will be in a position to direct National Air
Traffic Services (NATS) to reopen UK airspace and allow British Airways to
operate flights into and out of the UK.
We will only operate flights where we
have assessed the situation to be safe in accordance with all our normal
operating procedures, which are based on many years of experience of operating
in areas of volcanic activity around the world.
We deeply regret the great
inconvenience caused to our customers as a result of NATS’ decision to close UK
airspace over the last six days.
We hope to reach a position soon where
we can begin repatriating customers in large numbers, and we are planning to
operate a number of inbound longhaul flights today, subject to airspace
restrictions.
The continuing restrictions have
forced us to cancel our earlier plans to operate some shorthaul and some
longhaul departures from Heathrow today.
We understand the frustration our
customers feel and we thank them for their patience. We assure them we are
doing everything we can to resolve this situation.
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