1700 Hrs GMT
London
Tuesday
20 April 2010.
Editor © Muhammad Haque.
Khoodeelaar! Told the BBC SO! That they have a duty of truthfulness. To tell the truth always. What the BBC does is to hide the truth. It vacillates, prevaricates on telling the truth. Except the occasions like now, when masses and masses of travelling public are involved. The BBC cannot hide the truth. Yet even as it caves in and retails the truth, it still fails to address the central issue: that Big Business hype about providing capacity, accessibility, speed is all lies…. As being illustrated in the stories the BBC is having to run.
Like this one today: “No more flights to leave on Tuesday
Some flights have been operating from Belfast City Airport
Belfast International and City airports have said no more flights will leave on Tuesday, even if restrictions on airspace are lifted.
The air traffic control body Nats said restrictions on airspace above NI and Scotland could be lifted at 1900 BST.
Some flights were able to leave Belfast City on Tuesday morning, before the flight window was closed at 1300 BST.
The International said airlines had advised them there would be no flights before Wednesday morning.
"Ultimately the decision to operate rests with each airline under guidance from the Met Office and NATS," said an airport spokesperson.
"So our best advice remains for intending passengers to refer directly to airline websites."
At 1500 BST, Nats said based on the latest Met Office information, parts of Scottish and NI airspace would open from 1900 BST to 0100 BST on Wednesday.
Restrictions will remain in place over the rest of UK airspace below 20,000ft.
Nats also allowed for "overflights" - flights that pass over UK airspace at an altitude above 20,000 feet - allowing for many flights between Europe and the Middle East and North America.
It will also allow flights between open airports in Scotland and northern England, and those open in mainland Europe.
The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and the new cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK. The eruption had abated for a time on Monday morning.
Nats, said the situation was "dynamic and rapidly changing".
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said airports were "taking advantage of the window of opportunity" as the impact of the volcano ash cloud temporarily lessened, but stressed that passenger safety would remain "paramount".
Stranded
He added: "In the meantime I think it's important that everybody knows that if they can get to a Channel port we can get them across from Europe to the United Kingdom."
TUESDAY'S AIRLINE DISRUPTION
BA - no short-haul services on Tuesday, but 12 long-haul flights
EasyJet - flights to/from northern Europe, including UK, cancelled until 0100 BST on Wednesday.
Ryanair - flights cancelled to/from the UK, Ireland, and much of northern Europe until 1300 BST on Wed 21
Flybe - flights scheduled between Aberdeen, Belfast City, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Newcastle from 1005 BST
bmi - plans to resume UK domestic flights from Heathrow at 1900BST and from regional UK airports from 1300 BST
bmibaby - Certain internal and European flights operating, some cancellations on Tuesday and Wednesday
*All passengers are advised to check with their airline before heading to the airport
This is the sixth day of flight cancellations across the UK.
It is estimated 120,000 passengers have been affected by the closure of Northern Ireland airspace.
Thousands of passengers remain stranded with planes grounded across Europe.
Ryanair have said all flights between the UK and Ireland have been cancelled until 1300 BST on Friday.
A statement from the company said this was to allow for extra flights from the UK and Ireland to continental Europe on Thursday.
This would allow passengers to get to mainland Europe and make their return journeys via road, rail or ferry. Onward travel from Madrid will be at each passenger's own expense.
Flybe did operate a limited service to some Scottish airports from Belfast City. But flights for the rest of the day are cancelled.
EasyJet said flights to and from Northern Europe, including UK flights, would be cancelled until 1800 BST on Tuesday.
EXPERT ADVICE
Latest health advice
Air passenger rights
Q&A: Volcanic ash cloud
Travel latest
Aer Lingus said all flights scheduled for Tuesday are cancelled.
BMI plans to resume some flights from Heathrow at 1900 BST, but all flights from UK domestic airports are cancelled until at least 2359 BST.
Jet2 and Thomson flights will continue to be cancelled until Thursday at least. Passengers are advised to check airline websites for updates.
Aer Arann said its flights from Dublin to City of Derry Airport are cancelled.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has announced that Dublin Airport will remain closed for all inbound and outbound commercial flights until 1900 BST.
Shannon Airport is expected to reopen from 1300 BST but the authorities said no flight would depart this evening.
Cork Airport remains closed and a further update will be provided later.
More than 6.8m passengers have been affected so far and 63,000 flights have been cancelled since Thursday.
Experts say the tiny particles of rock, glass and sand contained in the ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano system could jam aircraft engines, as has happened in previous incidents of planes flying into plumes of volcanic ash.” [To be continued]
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