Airport given permission to open

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  • xman
    Admin
    • Sep 2006
    • 24007

    Airport given permission to open


    Cardiff Airport is able to reopen after the Civil Aviation Authority announced UK airspace restrictions would be phased out from 2200 BST on Tuesday.The CAA took the decision following advice from experts and tests on planes sent up into the volcanic ash cloud covering large parts of Europe.

    Some no-fly zones will remain in areas of high ash concentrations.

    Cardiff Airport has not yet made any announcement over when flights will actually resume.

    It is expected to make a statement later this evening.

    Many airlines at Cardiff had already cancelled all flights on Tuesday earlier in the day.

    Dame Deirdre Hutton of the CAA and Transport Secretary Lord Adonis announced the decision just after 2020 BST.

    Dame Deirdre said engine manufacturers now had a better understanding of aircrafts' tolerance levels for ash, and had agreed to increase tolerance level guidelines in low ash density areas.

    Lord Adonis said it would now be down to individual airports and airlines to organise their flight schedules.

    The National Air Traffic Services (Nats), which has been taking decisions about airspace closures, issued a statement on its website following the CAA announcement.

    It said: "Nats has received new direction from the UK's safety regulator, the CAA, on applying restrictions to UK airspace following the volcanic eruption in Iceland.

    "As soon as revised accurate information is available from the Met Office on the location of the dense ash cloud, Nats will review airspace availability and provide an update to airline operators on any airspace that has been restricted for safety reasons."

    Some commercial airliners were seen over Wales during the day as transatlantic flights originating from Germany and the Netherlands were given permission to fly over Welsh airspace above the ash cloud.

    Thousands of flights have been grounded since ash from a volcanic eruption in Iceland lead to UK airspace being closed last Thursday.

    Managers at the airport had been meeting tourism chiefs to decide on the priorities once permission for flying to begin again was given.

    'Planes, buses and ships'

    Some stranded Welsh tourists are expected to begin arriving back in the UK on Wednesday from Spain on coaches organised by Nantgarw-based company Ferris Coaches.

    The company sent out four double-decker buses to Madrid on Monday.

    The Royal Navy's HMS Albion is on its way back from Santander in northern Spain carrying more than 450 military personnel returning from Afghanistan and about 280 civilians who have been stranded by the flights disruption.

    Major Angus Henderson, 40, of 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, who is on the ship, is planning to attend the funeral of his battalion comrade Fusilier Jonathan Burgess, 20, from Swansea, who was killed in Helmand province two weeks ago.

    Fusilier Burgess's body was flown into the UK last Thursday just hours before the closure of UK airspace began.

    Maj Henderson and his battalion had to fly to Cyprus then wait to be flown on to Spain before being picked up by HMS Albion.


    He said he wanted to see his wife and three small children, adding: "How many modes of transport have I been on? I have lost count now -planes, buses and now ships."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.


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