More misery from Icelandic ash cloud

May 9 2010 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

VOLCANIC ash from Iceland unleashed more travel disruption yesterday, grounding flights between the UK and mainland Europe.

Holidaymakers hoping to jet to the Spanish resort of Alicante from Durham Tees Valley Airport were left disappointed yesterday morning when Ryanair cancelled the sunshine flight.

The 9.15am flight was one of many axed by the company across the UK as fresh plumes from the volcano affected flights from the UK and Ireland to Spain, Portugal and France.

Nineteen Spanish airports closed yesterday morning, and they were expected to remain shut until the early evening, and Ryanair said airspace over southern France could also be restricted.

London Stansted Airport saw 25 Ryanair services to destinations including the Canary Islands, Spain and Portugal cancelled, along with four easyJet flights.

At Gatwick, three easyJet services to Portugal were grounded while another four Ryanair flights to Alicante, Madrid and Barcelona were cancelled.

At Newcastle International Airport no flights were cancelled, but bosses warned of delays.

A notice posted on the website said: “We can confirm that Newcastle Airport remains open for arrivals and departures. There are currently no flights cancelled, but some services to Spain and Portugal are subject to delay.”

Durham Tees Valley Airport said: “Due to Volcanic ash over Northern Spain, the Ryanair Alicante flight has been cancelled. Please contact your airline directly for more information.”

Meanwhile, another higher level ash cloud is currently over the Atlantic causing westbound flights to re-route to avoid it.

A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said that transatlantic services suffered delays of 10 to 15 minutes to allow time to fly around the ash cloud.

He said disruption to European services was minimal, with only a small number of flights going to La Coruna affected.

The disruption could continue into next week if northerly winds bring ash over western Scotland and Ireland.

Renewed activity in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano sent ash up to heights of 20,000 to 30,000ft earlier this week, according to the Met Office.

Forecaster Victoria Kettley from MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said “We’re seeing more of a northerly wind from tomorrow in Scotland and over the rest of the UK on Monday and Tuesday.

“It looks as if Ireland and western Scotland could be affected. The wind is northerly rather than north westerly so it will not bring the ash right across the UK.

She added: “If it was to go north westerly it would bring it across the rest of the UK, but at the moment we’re looking at more northerly winds.”