ASH UPDATE – As UK airspace re-opens the inquest begins
Flights from UK airports were able to resume from 22.00 last night but airlines led by British Airways questioned whether the six day no-fly ruling was necessary at all.
As IATA estimated that airlines lost $1.7 billion in the crisis, BA chief executive Willie Walsh said: "I do not believe it was necessary to impose a blanket ban on all Uk airspace last Thursday."
Much of the UK airspace is re-opening in phases, the Department for Transport said.
"Most of the skies over the UK has been closed to commercial airliners due to the volcanic ash plume over the UK.
"There will continue to be some ‘no fly zones’ where concentrations of ash are at levels unsafe for flights to take place, but these will be very much smaller than the present restrictions."
“Making sure that air travellers can fly safely is the CAA’s overriding priority," the authority said in lifting the ban.
“The CAA has drawn together many of the world’s top aviation engineers and experts to find a way to tackle this immense challenge, unknown in the UK and Europe in living memory.
“The major barrier to resuming flight has been understanding tolerance levels of aircraft to ash. Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas.”
"Our way forward is based on international data and evidence from previous volcanic ash incidents, new data collected from test flights and additional analysis from manufacturers over the past few days. It is a conservative model allowing a significant buffer on top of the level the experts feel may pose a risk."
Phil Davies
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