Ash cloud grounds flights again

Two airports serving Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, were closed until 1800 GMT, while flights from the Irish capital Dublin faced restrictions from 1000 GMT until at least 2300 GMT.
The latest disruption, which could signal that travel glitches will continue into the summer holiday period, was caused by ash being blown from the same volcano in Iceland that caused mayhem for 10 million travellers last month.

European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said about 300 of 29,000 scheduled flights were likely to be cancelled across Europe on Wednesday. “The situation is not expected to improve in this area during the day,” the agency said in a statement.

“The whole of Ireland, west Scotland and north-west England could be affected, with risk to operations at Manchester and Liverpool airports,” it continued.

In addition, according to Eurocontrol, roughly 900 flights in Greek airspace would be cancelled assuming a general strike in Greece against austerity plans lasted until midnight.

Cloud staying?

A graphic on the website of Britain’s official weather forecaster, the Met Office, suggested the ash cloud would remain over much of Ireland, Scotland and western England into Thursday.

British Airways said it was cancelling all flights to and from the Scottish cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen until 1200 GMT.