Redfern Business Travel - UK Airspace To Re-Open

UK Airspace To Re-Open

Tuesday, 20 April 2010 21:27

Phased Re-Opening of UK Airspace

We are pleased to advise that this evening, the CAA has released updated information with regards to the volcanic ash situation currently affecting UK airspace. Under the updated advice, a phased reintroduction of much of the closed airspace will take place from 22:00hours this evening (20th April). The Revised Guidance issues relates to a better understanding with regards to ash density and its possible effects on aircraft. This guidance requires airlines to:

- Conduct their own risk assessment and develop operational procedures to address any remaining risks

- Put in place an intensive maintenance ash damage inspection before and after each flight; and

- Report any ash related incidents to a reporting scheme run by the CAA

The full statement is below for your information.

UK'S INDEPENDENT AVIATION REGULATOR ISSUES GUIDANCE TO OPEN AIRSPACE WITH SAFETY RESTRICTIONS

20^th April 2010

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK's independent specialist regulator with oversight of aviation safety, today issues new guidance on the use of airspace. This is issued in conjunction with the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) and covers the Anglo Irish Functional Airspace Block (FAB).

The new guidance allows a phased reintroduction from 2200 tonight of much of the airspace which is currently closed due to the volcanic ash plume over the UK. There will continue to be some ‘no fly zones' where concentrations of ash are at levels unsafe for flights to take place, but very much smaller than the present restrictions. Furthermore, the Met Office advise that the ‘no fly zones' do not currently cover the UK.

"Making sure that air travellers can fly safely is the CAA's overriding priority.

"The CAA has drawn together many of the world's top aviation engineers and experts to find a way to tackle this immense challenge, unknown in the UK and Europe in living memory. Current international procedures recommend avoiding volcano ash at all times. In this case owing to the magnitude of the ash cloud, its position over Europe and the static weather conditions most of the EU airspace had to close and aircraft could not be physically routed around the problem area as there was no space to do so. We had to ensure, in a situation without precedent, that decisions made were based on a thorough gathering of data and analysis by experts. This evidence based approach helped to validate a new standard that is now being adopted across Europe.

"The major barrier to resuming flight has been understanding tolerance levels of aircraft to ash. Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas."

Our way forward is based on international data and evidence from previous volcanic ash incidents, new data collected from test flights and additional analysis from manufacturers over the past few days. It is a conservative model allowing a significant buffer on top of the level the experts feel may pose a risk.

In addition, the CAA's Revised Airspace Guidance requires airlines to:
· conduct their own risk assessment and develop operational procedures to address any remaining risks;
· put in place an intensive maintenance ash damage inspection before and after each flight; and
· report any ash related incidents to a reporting scheme run by the CAA.