Decision to ground planes condemned as British skies reopen

Britain's skies reopened today as an airline boss branded the latest ash cloud no-fly zones a "gross over-reaction".

But before restrictions were lifted air passengers suffered more travel misery as the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud grounded planes.

Hundreds of flights had to be cancelled or delayed this morning, with Heathrow and Gatwick among the airports affected.

By 1pm all but the most northerly Scottish island airports were operating normally again as the threat moved away.

But delays continued, with some long-haul flights due in at Heathrow today not expected to arrive until early tomorrow.

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh said blanket bans on flying were "a gross over-reaction to a very minor risk".

"I am very concerned that we have decisions on opening and closing of airports based on a theoretical model," he said.

"There was no evidence of ash in the skies over London today yet Heathrow was closed."

Mr Walsh said safety of passengers and aircraft was paramount. But he added that "a much better and more sensible" approach to dealing with the ash problem needed to be adopted.

Chris Browne, managing director of Thomson Airways, said: "Safety is and will always remain our number one priority. However it is our view that if the ash clouds are to continue, current modelling needs to become more accurate and there needs to be greater clarity for the industry on operational parameters.

"It is vital that we understand the tolerance levels for aircraft and engines in particular, but also gain a better knowledge of the predictability of the ash clouds.

"We are currently leading working parties between the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) and other industry partners, with the remit of understanding how we can all share knowledge and co-ordinate more accurate forecasting."

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said: "We are gathering more evidence all the time. The aircraft manufacturers are looking at that evidence.

"They are looking at what inspection regimes they can put in place that would allow safe flying through a somewhat higher threshold of ash.

"If we can do that the likelihood of volcanic ash disrupting flights will obviously diminish."

Among those who had their travel plans wrecked today was grandmother Margaret Palombella, from Liverpool, who had arrived at her home-town airport, John Lennon, to fly to Portugal to visit her granddaughter only to find her flight had been axed.

Mrs Palombella, 55, said: "It's been terrible. There's just nothing going. No-one tells you anything.

"They said I might be able to get away on Wednesday night and just to check on the internet first. My granddaughter won't be pleased."

At Gatwick airport in West Sussex, Sheila Fisher, 73, had been due to fly with her husband to Turkey this morning.

Instead the couple had to be transferred to Luton by coach to fly from the Bedfordshire airport.

She said: "We should have been in Turkey by lunchtime and instead we won't get there until tonight, so we've lost a day.

"But these things happen. It's an act of God, you can't do anything about it. "We're taking our grandchildren away in August so we're hoping it doesn't flare up again."

Forecasters are predicting the ash cloud will be blown away from the UK in the coming days.