Western Isles no fly zone

The possibility of flight disruption arising from volcanic ash has increased in the last 24 hours following fresh volcanic activity in Iceland and south-westerly winds carrying the ash towards UK airspace

Recognising the lifeline nature of the majority of the routes operated by Loganair, we will not cancel flights unless such action becomes unavoidable as a result of a No Fly Zone being imposed.

A further review will take place this evening to review operating plans for tomorrow, where disruption may affect further services on other routes such as those to the Western Isles in particular.

New, easy-to-understand information on the disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud is now available online.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said the Government’s website would now categorise disruption as either:
Level 1 – No Present Disruption
Level 2 – Likely Disruption
Level 3 – Current Disruption

“7,000 seats”

This will allow the public to get an instant snapshot of the current situation.

The website will also link to other essential information, including the Met Office’s new five-day ash prediction charts.

The development came as the volcanic ash cloud again caused disruption to Scottish air travel, with wider disruption expected over the next 24 hours.

The current situation is:

Prestwick, Campbeltown, Barra and Islay airports closed at 1300 hours today and will remain closed until at least 1900 hours. Flights from other airports are affected due to airport closures in other countries.

The ash cloud is likely to move over other parts of Scotland over the next 24 hours causing further closure of airports/airspace. Not all airports/airspace will be affected in the same way at the same time.

Additional capacity is being made available on other modes of transport, including an extra 7,000 seats on Virgin trains.

“Alternative travel”

Mr Swinney said: “Once again Scotland is facing disruption and we are working hard to minimise the impact on the travelling public.

The Scottish Government Resilience Room is open and Ministers met again today to agree what further action we can take.

“That action includes our new web pages which will give people instant access to simple information about the current situation, plus access to a wealth of other valuable information.

“Current predictions suggest the situation is likely to worsen over the next 24 hours before easing into Tuesday. As ever passengers are strongly advised to contact their airlines before travelling to the airport and may wish to consider alternative travel arrangements if possible.”