Iceland volcano: latest travel news
Flights resumed in Scotland at 7am but there are no plans to open London airports until at least 7pm. Follow the latest updates here.
By Lucy Cockcroft
Published: 11:12AM BST 20 Apr 2010
More flight disruption in the UK
Plans to re-open British airspace have been scaled back and the ban covering most of Britain will remain in place until tonight at the earliest.
Nats, the air traffic control company, said that from 1pm to 7pm, part of Scottish airspace, including Aberdeen, Inverness and Edinburgh airports, and also airspace south to Newcastle airport, would continue to be available for flights.
This will mean that there will be no flights after 1pm from Glasgow.
And there will be no flights taking off before 7pm at the earliest in the rest of England, nor in Wales or Northern Ireland.
However, flights will be permitted at above 20,000ft in UK airspace, between 1pm and 7pm, meaning airlines could fly services from southern Europe over England to Scotland, for example.
Passengers have been advised to contact their airlines to find out how the lift on restrictions will affect their plans.
You can check for regular updates on British flight restrictions on the website of Nats.
Flight restrictions eased in European airports
AUSTRIA - Airspace open as of 0300 GMT Monday.
BELGIUM - Air space closed until Tuesday 0600 GMT. May then allow some planes to land and from 1200 GMT some to depart. Airlines have been allowed to bring planes back to Belgium without passengers or freight.
BOSNIA - Airports open.
BULGARIA - All airspace and airports open.
CZECH REPUBLIC - Airspace and airports open as of 1000 GMT on Monday.
DENMARK - Airspace open for flights above 10,800 metres (35,500 feet). Airspace below this height closed all Monday.
ESTONIA - Airspace open from 0000 GMT to 0600 GMT Tuesday.
FINLAND - Airspace closed until 1500 GMT Tuesday.
FRANCE - Plans to progressively reopen airports and create air corridors from 0600 GMT. Air France will start resuming suspended flights from Tuesday.
GERMANY - Airspace closed, with some exceptions, until at least 1200 GMT Tuesday.
HUNGARY - Hungary closed part of its western airspace below 6,000 m (20,000 ft) on Tuesday due to higher amounts of volcanic ash, the air traffic authority said in a statement.
IRELAND - The Irish Aviation Authority said it had to abandon plans to reopen Irish airspace, "The density of volcanic ash over Irish Airspace is such that restrictions will have to continue until 1300 hours (1200 GMT) today at least."
ITALY - Airspace to reopen from 0600 GMT.
LATVIA - Airspace closed at least until Monday 1800 GMT. Transit flights permitted above an altitude of 6 km.
LITHUANIA - Airspace open.
LUXEMBOURG - Airspace closed until Monday 1800 GMT.
MONTENEGRO - Airports open.
NETHERLANDS - Passenger flights left Amsterdam's Schipol Airport from 1800 GMT Monday.
NORWAY - Air traffic open in most of Norway, including Oslo Gardermoen Airport, and looks set to stay open until midnight based on latest forecast, airport authority Avinor says. Only limited areas in northern Norway are closed for traffic.
POLAND - Polish airspace was closed again on Tuesday morning due to volcanic ash cloud passing over Europe, the country's aviation authority said.
ROMANIA - Airspace fully reopened.
RUSSIA - All airports open. Aeroflot is flying to the United States via the North Pole.
SERBIA - Airports open.
SLOVAKIA - Eastern airspace open, as is the rest of its airspace for flights above 7,500 metres. Bratislava airport closed.
SLOVENIA - Slovenia expected another cloud of ash to reach its airspace around 1200 GMT Monday. It was then likely to close its airspace again, after opening it on Sunday night.
SPAIN - 17 airports open.
SWEDEN - Airspace open for flights north of a line stretching from the southern city of Gothenburg to Stockholm. Scandinavian Airlines resuming domestic flights in unrestricted airspace as well as flights between Stockholm and Oslo.
SWITZERLAND - Switzerland's civil aviation authority has decided to reopen Swiss air space from 0600 GMT on Tuesday following four successful test flights.
TURKEY - All airports open. Planes flying out of the Black Sea cities of Samsun, Sinop and Zonguldak have been advised not to fly higher than 6,000 metres.
UKRAINE - Kiev's Borispol airport open.
New threat to flights
A "new ash cloud" was spreading towards the UK on Monday night, leaving air passengers facing further delays.
Air traffic control company Nats on Tuesday: "The situation regarding the volcanic eruption in Iceland remains dynamic and the latest information from the Met Office shows that the situation today will continue to be variable."
Airlines and airports
Mainland Scottish airports are expected to be open from 7am on Tuesday.
BAA, which runs Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports, said passengers should check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.
Newcastle International Airport reopened for flights at 7am but is only operating a limited service.
Manchester Airport was expected to open from 9am on Tuesday, but said, due to the latest advice from Nats, it was not planning to open before 7pm at the earliest.
Glasgow Airport is scheduling limited flights until 1pm Tuesday.
British Airways has cancelled all shorthaul flights for Tuesday.
The airline has also had to cancel all longhaul flights departing from the UK on Tuesday as well as all inbound longhaul flights due to arrive before 12pm on Wednesday.
It said: "Despite the fact that airspace over most European countries is open, UK airspace remains effectively closed."
Ryanair has cancelled all flights from the UK until Wednesday at 1pm. The airline will operate additional flights tomorrow and Thursday from the Canary Islands of Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote and Tenerife to Madrid.
This will allow those stuck on the islands to reach mainland Europe. Ryanair added that onward travel from Madrid would be at passengers' own expense.
easyJet said all its flights to and from northern Europe including the UK were cancelled until Wednesday at 1am.
Both easyJet and Ryanair continue to run some flights in southern Europe.
Virgin Atlantic Airways said it hopes to operate some flights from London Heathrow from 8pm onwards should UK airspace reopen. Visit the website for a list. All other flights remain cancelled.
Flybe has cancelled flights for Tuesday but will start operating services again from Aberdeen, Belfast City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Newcastle on Tuesday from 10:05. Information on the company's website has not been updated since the news of the latest ash cloud.
Thomson Airways has cancelled all flights for Tuesday and Wednesday. Thomson said passengers can rebook their holidays without paying the usual administration fee.
Thomas Cook Airlines has cancelled all flights for Tuesday.
Aer Lingus was expecting to operate a number of flights on Tuesday.
Monarch cancelled all flights on Tuesday morning.
Jet2 cancelled all flights on Tuesday and Wednesday. A Jet2 plane left Newcastle International Airport at 11am on a rescue mission to pick up stranded passengers in Sharm el Sheikh.
Bmi British Midland plans to resume flights from UK domestic airports from 13:00 on Tuesday and from London Heathrow at 19:00 Tuesday. This information was issued prior to news of the new ash cloud on Monday night.
Ferries and ports
Ferry companies have increased capacity to cope with a flood of grounded airline passengers scrabbling for alternative methods of getting home.
Brittany Ferries has car and foot passenger spaces on routes between France and the UK, including routes from Caen-Portsmouth, St Malo-Portsmouth and Roscoff-Plymouth.
There is no availability on services to or from Spain (Plymouth/Portsmouth-Santander) until April 29.
Norfolkline has cancelled online reservations due to exceptional demand, and will only take bookings by phone. See the website for phone numbers. It has space on coaches on each of its Dover-Dunkirk sailings, which depart every two hours in each direction. It has space for cars on almost every crossing in the coming days.
P&O (0871 6645 645) has plenty of availability over the next few days for both foot passengers and cars on its Dover-Calais service, in both directions. Its Portsmouth-Bilbao, Hull-Rotterdam and Hull-Zebrugge services are full both ways although they are experiencing last-minute calcellations so it is worth checking for updates.
LD Lines (0844 576 8836) has very limited availability for both cars and foot passengers on its inbound services from Le Havre to Portsmouth and from Dieppe to Newhaven on Tuesday, but more spaces in the coming days.
There is availability for cars, and possibly foot passengers on its Dover-Boulogne service and cars only on Ramsgate-Ostend services.
Sea France (0871 2222 500) is offering a full schedule on its Dover-Calais services, with availability in both directions, and a foot passenger service on a first come, first served basis.
Spaces are still available on Hull to Zeebrugge/Rotterdam routes, but others from Portsmouth to Spain are cancelled until Thursday.
The Port of Dover in Kent said it is busy but all sailings were running on time, with some space available.
DFDS Seaways has added an extra sailing on its Esbjerg in Denmark to Harwich route, sailing daily from Tuesday.
Eurostar
The majority of Eurostar trains are sold out until Friday, especially going to the UK, but the operator is regularly adding extra trains. Passengers are advised to check the website regularly for details of new services.
It has announced that between April 20 and April 25 all 30,000 of the available standard-class seats on its trains will be on offer at a price of £89 (one-way). It is planning to run at least 28 additional trains this week and has already carried an extra 50,000 passengers since flights were grounded last Thursday.
Passengers have been urged to book online rather than turn up at rail stations.
Coaches
Eurolines UK said it added around 100 extra coaches on its services to and from the UK across Europe. Eurolines in France and Germany have also increased the amount of coaches available.
TOUR OPERATORS
Thomson and First Choice are using coaches and cruise ships to bring back British holidaymakers who are stranded abroad. Customers in Alicante and Malaga will travel via coach to northern France, before catching ferries to Britain and being transported to their respective domestic airports.
The operator, which has 40,000 British customers stranded aboard, is also using its cruise ships, Island Escape and Thomson Dream, to bring back passengers. Island Escape, which is currently in Madeira, will bring its passengers home by sea instead of by air. It is also picking up 300 non-cruise passengers from Madeira whose flights have cancelled.
Thomson Dream will also be used to ferry passengers from Majorca to Barcelona, where further transport has been organised.
Jet2 has deployed over 90 coaches and is transferring people by land from Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Canary Islands, Egypt, Cyprus, Israel and Italy.
Foreign Office
British consular staff overseas are assisting stranded Britons at airports, working with the local authorities to resolve visa problems and advising British nationals who have run out of funds.
Regarding Britons stranded in Spain, a Foreign Office spokesman said: "British consular staff across Spain are urgently exploring ways in which they can help British nationals who are stranded in the country and have no other means of returning home, paying particular attention to the most vulnerable groups.
"Consuls are visiting major airports and ports to offer advice and update passengers with the latest travel information."
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said anyone in Britain who is concerned about someone stranded overseas can call its advice line on 020 7008 0000.
The FCO website is also being updated regularly with information and advice about passengers' rights and the responsibilities of travel companies.
Met Office
Forecasters have warned that the ash cloud could hang over the UK for "many more" days. Regular updates on the weather can be found here.
Social netorking sites
Various groups have been set up to help stranded travellers. When Volcanoes Erupt on Facebook is acting as a clearing house for lodging and transport, and Stranded in New Zealand, also on Facebook, is for travellers stuck in that part of the world.
On Twitter, the #getmehome hashtag is for people trying to get home, while #putmeup is linking up those that need accommodation with those that can offer it.
Emergency plans
The Government's "Cobra" emergency committee will discuss options to help stranded Britons on Monday.
London and Madrid are working on ideas to fly Britons stranded by the volcanic ash cloud to a Spanish hub and then sailing them back home, officials said.
The Government is using three Royal Navy warships to ferry passengers back to Britain.
HMS Albion came alongside at Santander in northern Spain this morning and started loading about 250 troops and 200 civilians to take them back to the UK.
Another two Navy vessels, aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal and commando helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, have also been deployed to rescue Britons stuck in Europe.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is considering flying troops wounded in Afghanistan to coalition partner countries such as Germany for treatment if British airspace remains closed because of the cloud of volcanic ash.
Test flights
Test flights are taking place in Britain "to help understand the extent of the impact of the ash cloud", according to Lord Adonis, the transport secretary.
European planemaking company Airbus, whose aircraft wings are made in the UK, said Tuesday that flight crew on two test flights it sent up on Monday "had not noticed anything abnormal" and post-flight inspections "showed no irregularities".
Taking off from Toulouse in southern France, an Airbus A380 superjumbo flew over French airspace in a flight of nearly four hours, while an Airbus A340, also flying from Toulouse, flew over French and German airspace on a five-hour journey.
A British Airways Boeing 747 completed a successful test flight in "perfect" conditions and without encountering any difficulties, the airline said on Monday morning.
The jumbo jet, carrying BA chief Willie Walsh, took off from Heathrow at 17.55 on Sunday before flying 550 miles due west of Cardiff, landing at Cardiff Airport in south Wales at 8.41pm.
British Airways has said that analysis so far of its own test flight and those of other airlines "provides fresh evidence that the current blanket restrictions on airspace are unnecessary."
BA said analysis of the flight had revealed "no variations in the aircraft's normal operational performance". In particular, the aircraft's "black box" flight data recorders showed that all four engines had performed "without fault for the duration of the flight.
KLM, the Dutch carrier, also disclosed on Monday that it had flown a plane through the ash cloud in Dutch airspace without suffering any damage.
The airline had planned to return seven planes without passengers to Amsterdam from Dusseldorf on Sunday, with the hope of receiving permission to resume passenger operations as soon as possible.
What the politicians say
Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader, said on Sunday that accurate information about the transport networks would be a "massive help".
Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox - whose own wife is stranded in Hong Kong - said he was concerned that the votes of expatriates and troops serving abroad may not reach the UK in time to be counted for the election, while up to 200,000 Britons may not get home in time to vote.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said British airspace would be opened up "as quickly as possible" and that travel companies losing money could be able to claim compensation from the European Union.
