Ash Cloud: BA Cancels Flights To Scotland

British Airways has suspended all flights from England to Scotland until 2pm on Tuesday because of a shift in the direction of the cloud of Icelandic volcanic ash.

The Dutch airline KLM has also cancelled 16 flights to Scotland and England while Flybe has axed journeys from Aberdeen and Inverness.

EasyJet has called off flights to and from Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen operating between 5am and 9am on Tuesday and 36 have been cancelled by Glasgow-based Loganair.

Airports in Scotland have remained open but services from Barra, Benbecula and Tiree airports are at risk from the cloud.

US President Barack Obama flew to London from Ireland early in an effort to avoid potential delays.

And football team Barcelona announced they will fly to London on Tuesday - earlier than planned - to prevent disruption before their Champions League final at Wembley on Saturday.

The latest Met Office prediction showed the plume would cover Scotland and Ireland by 6am on Tuesday.

And the latest prediction by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre at the Met Office indicated ash would be present up to 20,000ft over almost all of the UK by midday on Tuesday.

Air traffic control company Nats has advised passengers to check with their airline before travelling to these airports.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the ash had already caused "modest delays" to some flights including some Atlantic services.

"We continue to monitor the situation in Iceland closely in conjunction with the Met Office," he said.

"There have already been some modest delays to flights, particularly those crossing the Atlantic, due to the need for those flights to avoid areas of high ash concentration, and there could be further disruption later in the week, but we are doing everything we can to keep this to a minimum."

It comes after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said disruption to UK flights due to the ash cloud was expected on Tuesday.

Airlines and travellers have been nervously watching the progress of the ash cloud as it heads towards Europe.

The Grimsvotn volcano began erupting on the weekend and forced Iceland to close its airports on Sunday.

The country's aviation authority said it hoped to reopen the main airport near the capital Reykjavik tonight.

The only other country to be affected so far is Greenland, with air traffic officials confirming airspace was partly closed over the Arctic island.

European airlines have been warned to prepare for possible disruption to their flight schedules by the end of the week.

Last year, ash from an explosion at Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano forced the closure of European airspace for six days.

Some 10m passengers were left stranded for days at airport lounges around the world following the eruption in April 2010.

Experts and officials have said it is unlikely the Grimsvotn ash cloud would bring the same extent of misery.

"We've made a lot of advances from a year ago," said Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association.

He told Jeff Randall Live: "We know about how ash clouds move far better - we can predict them, and we have a better understanding of how they affect aircraft.

"Our co-ordination with other European nations is much better too."

The CAA told Sky News airlines can decide to fly if it is determined the ash cloud poses a low risk.

Aircraft can fly in medium levels of ash if they have approval from their respective regulator, which is the CAA in the UK.

Andrew Haines, chief executive of the CAA, said: "Our number one priority is to ensure the safety of people both onboard aircraft and on the ground.

"We can't rule out disruption, but the new arrangements that have been put in place since last year's ash cloud mean the aviation sector is better prepared."

Tom Hall, travel editor at Lonely Planet, said our understanding of the effects of volcanic ash on plane engines is more detailed based on what happened last year.

"The best advice for travellers at the moment is not to panic," he said.

"Airlines and individual companies are going to have a little more leeway to make their own decisions.

"Airlines will have a contingency plan in place. Certainly they would have looked very carefully at what happened last year [and] learnt their lessons.

The Government has also insisted this time round, it can deal with the situation.

While the Grimsvotn eruption has been more powerful than last year's, experts said this volcano's ash was coarser and falling to Earth more quickly.

University of Iceland geophysicist Pall Einarsson said: "It is not likely to be anything on the scale that was produced last year when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted.

"That was an unusual volcano, an unusual ash size distribution and unusual weather pattern, which all conspired together to make life difficult in Europe."

Despite this airline stocks fell early on Monday, with losses in heavyweights such as Lufthansa, Air France and Scandinavian SAS leading the European travel and leisure index down 1.8%.