NEW VOLCANO ASH CLOUD PROMPTS FRESH FLIGHT DOUBTS

A new ash cloud spreading towards the UK is causing uncertainty over plans to reopen some airspace on Tuesday, air traffic control body Nats has said.

Earlier, it said the flight ban would be lifted over Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.

But Nats said there was now a worsening situation in some areas. The outlook for Northern Ireland is most uncertain.

Glasgow Airport and Newcastle International Airport said they were to reopen for certain flights at 0700 BST.

Flights from Newcastle are expected to head to Aberdeen and the Isle of Man.

And the first flights out of Glasgow are going to Stornoway and Islay, while the first international flight is expected to depart at midday going to Reykjavik, in Iceland.

Nats, which is due to report again at 0900 BST, has said more airspace over England was expected to become available from 1300 BST, although not as far south as London's main airports.

'Dynamic conditions'
In a statement it said: “The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK.

“This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working.”

While some airports in Scotland and the north of England said they expected flights to be leaving during the morning, a spokesman for Belfast City Airport in Northern Ireland said: “Bar the activity to the Isle of Man, we expect to have nothing before lunch-time.”

British Airways has cancelled all short-haul flights on Tuesday but said it hoped to run long-haul flights scheduled to depart after 1600 BST depending on a “full and permanent” opening of airspace.