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Airports closed over volcanic ash | |
(about 22 hours later) | |
Scots air passengers are facing renewed disruption as flights are grounded because of volcanic ash and Prestwick airport has been closed completely. | |
Flights from Belfast were cancelled from early morning after a no-fly zone was imposed over Northern Ireland. | |
This was extended at 1300 BST to airports including Prestwick on the Ayrshire coast, Campbeltown in Argyll and the islands of Islay and Barra. | |
Glasgow airport is open but it was expecting to be affected later. | |
A spokesman said the whole of the west of Scotland could be affected by 0100 BST on Monday. | |
Prestwick, Campbeltown, Barra and Islay airports will remain closed until at least 1900 hours BST. | |
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. | |
Uk airspace | |
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. | |
Although Glasgow Airport is not currently covered by the no-fly zone it said Easyjet had cancelled flights until 1900 BST, a total of 11 flights. | |
Aer Lingus cancelled three flights and Flybe have cancelled nine departing flights up to 1700 BST. | |
Two flights bound for the US from Glasgow were also cancelled. | |
A spokesman for Aberdeen airport said its airspace was clear but flights were cancelled to Manchester, Leeds Bradford, East Midlands and Belfast because of problems elsewhere. | |
Ash from the volcano caused severe disruption last month | |
Flights were cancelled from Edinburgh to Belfast and Newark, USA, in the morning. | |
Passengers are being advised to check flight details with airlines before travelling. | |
The Scottish government is also 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. | |
Scottish transport minister Stewart Stevenson previously called upon airlines to be "consistent" to "avoid unnecessary and unhelpful confusion". | |
He said he had written to BA chief executive Willie Walsh after the airline cancelled three flights to Scotland on Friday. BA said the flights were cancelled as a "precaution". |