Airline passenger news and views

The Met Office was last night under attack again for its 'unreliable' predictions about the movement of the volcanic ash cloud, which had threatened to ruin the holiday plans of millions of families over the half term period.

In an extraordinary attack, Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary spoke of a 'totally inaccurate' forecast that showed a dense cloud of ash engulfing the UK just in time for tomorrow's bank holiday and half-term getaway.

Yesterday, it transpired that the Met Office revised its original forecast, downplaying the density of the ash. Previously on Tuesday night the organisation had insisted it stood by its prediction that an ash cloud of the highest density would cover the whole of the UK from 35,000ft to 55,000ft.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the new forecast meant the bank holiday getaway could go ahead uninterrupted. He has also put in place a new structure to deal more efficiently with any future eruptions by Icelandic volcanos.

The news followed days of uncertainty, which saw hundreds of flights cancelled to and from Scotland and northern England as the ash cloud moved across the Continent.

According to the latest report from the Met Office forecast, a giant ash cloud is still on course to arrive over the UK at a height of 35,000ft by noon tomorrow however, it will be less dense than first predicted.

Yesterday it appeared that the eruptions from Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano had stopped.

Mr O'Leary told Channel 4 News last night: 'You cannot shut airspace on the basis of these entirely inaccurate Met Office forecasts of where a volcano ash plume may move 2,000 miles south of Iceland. It makes no sense.'

Mr Hammond accepted the threat from future eruptions was in the lap of the gods - with a two to three-day window at most to prepare for any new ash cloud threat.

In the event of further eruptions, Mr Hammond has asked controllers at air traffic body NATS and the Civil Aviation Authority to draw up procedures to let flights arrive and depart from the UK beneath the ash cloud, something which has never previously been allowed in UK airspace.

The new system would be more 'robust' and apply 'common sense', he added. 
The planes would only start gaining altitude once they were safely clear of the 'red zone' - a technique known as 'underflying'.

If the cloud of high density ash had materialised at a height of between 35,000ft to 50,000ft, it would have caused chaos - cramming the 9,000 daily planes into a restricted airspace.

One Met Office official noted last night: 'It's now looking more hopeful for

Airlines and the CAA make decisions on whether to fly based on computer forecasts of the ash cloud made by the Met Office's Volcanic Advisory Centre.'

The computer model - called NAME - takes into account wind and rain patterns to predict the movement and concentration of the ash cloud  up to altitudes of 55,000 feet.

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