Closed airports prepare to reopen

Deserted Aberdeen Airport

A ban on flights imposed due to the danger posed by a cloud of volcanic ash has been extended at some Scottish airports.

Aircraft were grounded on Sunday in parts of Scotland, northern England and the whole of Northern Ireland.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) extended the ban until 0700 BST on Monday.

Prestwick, Oban, Campbeltown and Aberdeen airports are affected, as are those on the Western Isles.

The air traffic control service Nats confirmed Prestwick was now outside the no-fly zone but an airport spokeswoman said it would not receive any flights up until 1245 BST on Monday.

‘Likely to worsen’

Meanwhile, flights from Belfast were cancelled from early Sunday morning after a no-fly zone was imposed over the whole of Northern Ireland.

Glasgow Airport remains open but passengers across the UK have been advised to check with their airlines for up-to-date information.

Smoke from the volcano last month

However, Easyjet, Aer Lingus and Flybe grounded some flights on Sunday and two services bound for the US from Glasgow were also cancelled.

Earlier, Finance Secretary John Swinney said current predictions suggested the situation was "likely to worsen" over the next 24 hours before easing on Tuesday.

He said additional capacity was being made available on other modes of transport, including an extra 7,000 seats on Virgin trains.

"Once again Scotland is facing disruption and we are working hard to minimise the impact on the travelling public," he added.

The Scottish government is publishing information on the disruption likely to be caused by the volcanic ash, categorised into three levels, on its website.

It said the advice would provide an "instant snapshot" of the current situation for the public.

Ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano closed UK airspace for five days last month.

High concentrations of ash have also grounded flights on numerous occasions since.

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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