Volcanic incident updates in May

For reference, all volcanic updates made in May on the NATS website are listed here.

Update on Monday 17 May, 1645

According to the latest information from the CAA and the Met Office the volcanic ash cloud clears the UK for the period 1900 (local time) until 0100 tomorrow (Tuesday) and all airports in Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales will be available during this period.

There may be some restrictions to helicopter operations in the North Sea where a no-fly zone is still in force during this period.

We will update this information further as necessary.

Update on Monday 17 May, 1300

The CAA has lifted the no-fly zone that has been affecting flights at Heathrow and Gatwick until 1900 (local time) today. The decision comes following further information from the Met Office about the density and location of the ash cloud.  There are no restrictions at airports in Northern Ireland, England or Wales during this period.

From 1300-1900 the no-fly zone remains in place only in the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

Update on Monday 17 May, 1245

The CAA has lifted the no-fly zone that has been affecting flights at Heathrow and Gatwick until 1900 (local time) today. The decision comes following further information from the Met Office about the density and location of the ash cloud.  There are no restrictions at other English or Welsh airports during this period.

Until 1300 the no-fly zone remains in place in Northern Ireland, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Northern Scotland.

From 1300-1900 the no-fly zone remains in place in two key areas affecting operations in Northern Ireland and the Orkney and Shetland Isles. Airports falling within the no-fly zones include Belfast City, Londonderry, Kirkwall and Stornoway.  All other airports will be open.

Update on Monday 17 May, 1100

The CAA has lifted the no-fly zone that has been affecting flights at Heathrow and Gatwick this morning. The decision comes following further information from the Met Office about the nature and location of the ash cloud.

The no-fly zone remains in place in two key areas affecting operations in Northern Ireland and the Shetland Isles. Airports falling within the No Fly Zones include: Belfast City, Londonderry, Shetland and Orkney. All other airports are open.

Update on Monday 17 May, 0500

The volcanic ash cloud continues to change shape and two key areas affect operations stretching from the South of England to Northern Ireland, and over much of mainland Scotland to the Shetland Isles.  As a result, no-fly zones have been imposed by the CAA in these areas, for the period 0700 local until 1300 local today (Monday).

Airports within the no-fly zones include all those in Northern Ireland, Ronaldsway, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Northern Scotland. Cardiff, Swansea, Bristol and Farnborough are also in the no-fly zone.

Heathrow and Gatwick airports will be clear of the no-fly zone however restrictions will have to be applied due to their close proximity to the no-fly zone particularly affecting Gatwick inbounds.

Information on airports in Ireland can be obtained from the Irish Aviation Authority website (www.iaa.ie).

We are working closely with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Sunday 16 May, 2245

The high density volcanic ash cloud continues to move further south in the early hours of tomorrow morning.

For the period 0100 (local time) until 0700 tomorrow (Monday), airports inside the no-fly zone as imposed by the CAA, include; London Heathrow, Gatwick, Farnborough, London City, Shoreham, Biggin Hill, all airfields in Northern Ireland, Scottish Western Isles, Oban, Campbeltown, Caernarfon and Aberdeen. Cardiff remains open but operations may be limited due to close proximity of the no-fly zone.

Information on airports in Ireland can be obtained from the Irish Aviation Authority website (www.iaa.ie).

We are working closely with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Sunday 16 May, 1630

For the period 1900 today (local time) until 0100 tomorrow (Monday) London’s main airports will still be clear of the no-fly zone imposed by the CAA due to the high density volcanic ash cloud.

The ash cloud continues to change shape and move further south to just north of Oxford during this period.  This brings Birmingham and Norwich inside the no-fly zone in addition to those airports already affected.  The northerly extent of the no-fly zone in England now includes Teesside, stopping just short of Newcastle, and tracking northwest in a line just north of Carlisle, which remains in the no-fly zone.

Airports inside the no-fly zone in England and Wales now include Carlisle, Teesside, Humberside, Leeds Bradford, Blackpool, Ronaldsway, Caernarfon, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Doncaster, Norwich, Birmingham and East Midlands.

In Scotland the no-fly zone includes the Western Isles, Campbeltown, Prestwick and Oban.  All airports in Northern Ireland remain inside the no-fly zone during this period.

There are currently no other restrictions within UK airspace. Information on airports in Ireland can be obtained from the Irish Aviation Authority website (www.iaa.ie).

We are working closely with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Sunday 16 May, 1030

The CAA’s no-fly zone required by the high density volcanic ash cloud will not affect London airports for the period 1300-1900 (local time) today.

The no-fly zone for this period has moved east to a line stretching from Prestwick on the west coast to Humberside on the east coast and south to a line just north of Birmingham.  Airports which fall within the no-fly zone include all those in Northern Ireland, Ronaldsway, Prestwick, Carlisle, Manchester, Liverpool, Doncaster, Humberside, Leeds Bradford and East Midlands and some Scottish island airports including Campbeltown, Islay and Barra.

There are currently no other restrictions within UK airspace. Information about Irish airspace can be found at on the IAA website.

We are working closely with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary

Update on Sunday 16 May, 0435

A high density volcanic ash cloud is rapidly encroaching on Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man. As a result, a no-fly zone has been imposed by the CAA in airspace over parts of Northern Ireland.

Restrictions apply to Belfast International, Belfast Harbour & Ronalsdway (Isle of Man) airports from 0700 (local) until 1300 on Sunday 16 May.

The Irish Authorities have also advised of restrictions on airfields in NW Ireland from 0700 (local). Dublin and Shannon airports will remain open until 1300.

There are currently no other restrictions within UK airspace. We are working closely with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Saturday 15 May, 2345

A high density volcanic ash cloud is rapidly encroaching on Northern Ireland. As a result, a no-fly zone has been imposed by the CAA in airspace over parts of Northern Ireland, however Belfast International and Dublin airports will remain open, from 0100 (local) to 0700 on Sunday 16 May.

There are currently no other restrictions within UK airspace. We are working closely with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Friday 14 May, 2100

There are currently no restrictions within UK airspace.

We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Monday 10 May, 0900

The high density area of the volcanic ash cloud is now lying to the north-west of the UK and, as a result, there are currently no restrictions within UK airspace.

We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Sunday 9 May, 1845

The high density area of the volcanic ash cloud is now lying to the north-west of the UK and, as a result, there are currently no restrictions within UK airspace apart from an area in north-west Scotland affecting Barra airfield, which lies within the no-fly zone from 1900 (local) to 0100 tomorrow (Monday) morning.

We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice on this website as necessary.

Update on Sunday 9 May, 0945

The high density area of the volcanic ash cloud is now lying to the north-west of the UK and as a result, there are currently no restrictions within UK airspace apart from those affecting Stornaway, Benbecula and Barra airfields, which lie within the no-fly zone from 1300 (local) to 1900.

We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice as necessary.

Update on Sunday 9 May, 0745

The high density area of the volcanic ash cloud is now lying to the north-west of the UK and as a result, there are currently no restrictions within UK airspace apart from those affecting Inverness, Wick, Kirkwall, Stornaway, Benbecula and Barra airports, which lie within the no-fly zone from 0700 (local) to 1300.

We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no-fly zones based on Met Office data, and will issue any further notice as necessary.

Update on Thursday 6 May, 0915

The high density area of the volcanic ash cloud is now lying off the west of Ireland and as a result there are currently no restrictions within UK airspace.

We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which agrees no fly zones based on Met Office data. We will issue any further notice as necessary.

Update on Thursday 6 May, 0415

The no-fly zone imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority tracking the high density area of the volcanic ash cloud, has moved west overnight and has now cleared UK airspace.

According to latest information from the Met Office, from 0700 (local) today (Thursday) all UK airfields will be available.

We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which is responsible for imposing no-fly zones. We will issue any further notice as necessary.

Update on Wednesday 5 May, 2145

The no-fly zone imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority continues to move south and west in line with the high density area of the volcanic ash cloud.  According to latest information from the Met Office, from 0100 (local) until 0700 tomorrow (Thursday) the airfields which will be inside the no-fly zone and therefore unavailable include all those in Northern Ireland plus Islay, Campbeltown, Ronaldsway, Lands End and the Isles of Scilly.  All other UK airfields will be outside the no-fly zone and available during this period.

Latest Met Office information suggests the cloud will move west overnight.  Based on this information, we expect most of the airfields listed above to become available again from 0700.  However, we would caution that the ash cloud is dynamic and continues to change shape and the situation may change again.  We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which is responsible for imposing no-fly zones.  We will issue a further update at approximately 0330 tomorrow.

Update on Wednesday 5 May, 1630

The no-fly zone imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority continues to move further south and west in line with the high density area of the volcanic ash cloud.  According to latest information from the Met Office, Edinburgh Airport will come out of the no-fly zone and become available for operations from 1900 (local).  All other airfields currently within the no-fly zone remain within it from 1900 to 0100 tomorrow (Thursday).  During this period the no-fly zone extends over most of Ireland and clips the west coast of northern England and Wales; however, most of Wales, England and eastern Scotland are now outside the high density area.

Met Office advice suggests that the cloud will continue to move southwesterly overnight and we therefore hope that fewer restrictions will be necessary tomorrow (Thursday).  We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which is responsible for imposing no-fly zones. The next updated Met Office information, covering the period 0100-0700 tomorrow, will be available at 1900 and restrictions will be re-assessed by the CAA in light of that information.  We will subsequently issue a further update.

Update on Wednesday 5 May, 1200

The no-fly zone imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority will extend from 1300 (local) today to include Belfast City, Belfast International, Ronaldsway (Isle of Man) and Edinburgh Airports. All other airfields currently within the no-fly zone remain within it.

Latest information from the Met Office shows that the ash cloud continues to move south and change shape. We continue to maintain close dialogue with the Met Office and with the CAA, which is responsible for imposing no-fly zones.

These latest restrictions will be re-assessed by the CAA at 1900. We will issue a further update following that.

Update on Tuesday 4 May, 2230

Updates concerning the volcanic ash situation have been posted on the CAA website: http://www.caa.co.uk

Update on Tuesday 4 May, 1230

We are expecting all UK airspace (including Northern Ireland) to be open this afternoon from 1300 (local time), with the exception of a very small no-fly zone identified by the CAA in the northwest corner of UK airspace. This no-fly zone is not expected to have any impact on UK operations.

NATS continues to monitor the latest Met Office information and updates from the CAA. We will provide more information as and when it is available.

Update on Tuesday 4 May, 0630

Based on the latest information from the Met Office and the CAA, NATS advises that, due to a heavy concentration of volcanic ash, a no-fly zone is in place in the west of Scotland and Northern Ireland, including some airports in the Western Isles from 0700 (local time) until at least 1300 (local time).

Apart from the no-fly zone, normal air traffic control operations are expected within Scottish airspace during this period, including Scottish airports, although some regulation may be required in light of operational experience.

Conditions around the movement of the layers of the volcanic ash cloud over the UK remain dynamic. NATS will continue to monitor the latest Met Office information and the CAA’s updates on the density of the ash cloud across the UK.

The next update will be at approximately 1200 (local time).