Overnight most of the UK’s airspace has been available with the exception of an area over the north west of Scotland which has continued to be affected by a dense concentration of volcanic ash.  We continue to work with the latest information and guidance from our safety regulator, the CAA, the Met Office and the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre on the predicted movements of the area of dense volcanic ash.  Based on the latest information, we anticipate that this area will continue to centre on the north west of Scotland and may extend further south into Scottish airspace during today. 

Between the period of 0100 – 0700 on 21 April NATS handled 130 flights in airspace over England and Wales and 35 flights in Scottish airspace (including Northern Ireland).  We are in regular contact with the UK airports and airline operators to understand the latest information on flights entering UK airspace and our operation is ready to respond to an increase in demand.

Passengers should contact their airlines to find out how the current situation will affect their travel plans. We anticipate being able to provide a further update late this afternoon.

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Heathrow Airport is to remain closed until further notice  and Gatwick is estimating that it will reopen this afternoon at the earliest.

Manchester Airport will reopen at 1pm at the earliest.

The latest advice is to check is to check the status of your flight before setting off to the airport.

Statement on Icelandic volcanic eruption: Monday April 19, 1530

The volcanic eruption has reduced and the volcano is not currently emitting ash to altitudes that will affect the UK. Assuming there are no further significant ash emissions we are now looking at a continuously improving situation.

Based on the latest information from the Met Office, NATS advises that the restrictions currently in place across UK controlled airspace will remain in place until 0700 (local time) tomorrow, Tuesday.

From 0700 (local time) tomorrow, Tuesday, Scottish airspace will be open, and south to a line between Teesside and Blackpool. Mainland Scottish airports will be open.

This is a dynamic and changing situation and is therefore difficult to forecast beyond 0700 local; however, the latest Met Office advice is that the contaminated area will continue to move south with the possibility that restrictions to airspace above England and Wales, including the London area, may be lifted later tomorrow (Tuesday).

We will continue to monitor Met Office information and review our arrangements in line with that. We will advise further arrangements at approximately 2100 (local time), today.

It is now for airports and airlines to decide how best to utilise this opportunity. Passengers should contact their airlines to find out how this will affect their travel plans.

Based on the latest information from the Met Office, NATS advises that the current restrictions across UK controlled airspace due to the volcanic ash cloud will remain in place until at least 0100 (local) on Tuesday 20th April.

Anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before travelling to the airport.

Conditions around the movement of the layers of the volcanic ash cloud over the UK remain dynamic. NATS is maintaining close dialogue with the Met Office and with the UK’s safety regulator, the CAA, in respect of the international civil aviation policy we follow in applying restrictions to use of airspace. We are currently awaiting CAA guidance.

We are working closely with Government, airports and airlines, and airframe and aero engine manufacturers to get a better understanding of the effects of the ash cloud and to seek solutions.

The next update will be issued at approximately 1500 (local) today.

Birmingham International Airport

The airport is a major base for Bmibaby, Flybe, Monarch Airlines, Ryanair and Thomson Airways. The airline that operates most flights to Birmingham Airport is Flybe however the airline that transports most passengers at Birmingham is Ryanair and Bmibaby is close behind.

Birmingham Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P451) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.

The airport is close to the M42 motorway and A45 main road. It is connected by the elevated AirRail Link with Birmingham International railway station on the West Coast Main Line.

The airport handled a record 9,627,589 pass

engers in 2008, up 4.3% from 9,226,340 in 2007, and a 20% increase over the six years since 2002. Birmingham had the largest increase in passenger numbers of any UK airport in 2008.It offers flights within the UK, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, North America and the Caribbean.

The airport was opened at Elmdon on 8 July 1939, and was owned and operated by Birmingham City Council. During World War II, the airport was requisitioned by the Air Ministry and was used by the RAF for military purposes. During this time, the original grass strip was replaced by two hard runways: 06/24 at 2,469 feet (753 m) and 15/33 at 4,170 feet (1,271 m)^. Avro Lancaster bombers manufactured at the Austin Aero Company’s shadow factory at Cofton Hackett could not take off from the short runways at Longbridge. Instead they were transported by road, minus the wings that would be attached at Elmdon. Test flown from the aerodrome, once declared airworthy they were then flown to their operational units. The aerodrome returned to civilian use in July 1946, though still under government control.

During the post-war years, public events, such as air fairs and air races were held on the site. The City of Birmingham took over responsibility again on 1 January 1960 and assumed full responsibility on 1 April 1960.^[4] An additional terminal building to handle international traffic was opened in 1961 and the main runway was extended to 7,400 feet in 1967 to allow jet operations. The Birmingham Corporation Act 1970 gave the corporation the power to attest constables for the airport, creating the Birmingham Airport Police. Ownership of the airport passed to the newly-formed West Midlands County Council in 1974.

A second terminal, “Eurohub” opened on 26 July 1991 (with Concorde in attendance), more than doubling the airport’s capacity. This second terminal was designed for the use of British Airways and its partners as part of a “hub and spoke” system whereby aircraft would arrive in waves from domestic and European destinations and allowed easy transfers so that a passenger from, say Edinburgh, could connect to a range of European destinations. During the 1990s, British Airways also operated a service to New York-JFK and for a short time Toronto-Pearson was added. American Airlines operated a daily service to Chicago until 2001 and in 2009 US Airways launched a seasonal service to Philadelphia. However, due to the global economic crisis, the route was suspended.

The original Art Deco 1939 terminal and control tower are still visible, near hangars to the west of the runway.

In 1983, the airport was privatised, although the local authorities still own a 49% share. On 1 April 1987, the ownership of the Airport transferred to Birmingham International Airport plc, a public limited company owned by the seven West Midlands district councils.

In 1995 the Maglev Airport Rapid Transit system, which had been running between the airport and Birmingham International railway station on a 600-metre (1,969 ft) track since 1984,was closed due to high cost and problems sourcing parts. A cable driven AirRail Link system replaced the Maglev line and it reopened in 2003.

Concorde made a final visit on 20 October 2003 as part of her farewell tour.

The shorter runway (06/24) was decommissioned in January 2008. It had been used with less frequency due to its length, noise impact, and its inconvenient position crossing the main runway making it uneconomic to continue operation. The closure also allows for apron expansion on both sides of the remaining runway.

Most of the airport is located within the area of Solihull this means that all planning permission is reviewed by the Solihull Council which is run separately from the Government of Birmingham which has no control over the airport’s expansion plans. The Solihull Council also own a large percentage of the airport with it being in Solihull.

Future

The airport has published a master plan for its development up to 2030. This sets out details of changes to the terminals, airfield layout and off-site infrastructure. As with all large scale plans, the proposals are controversial, with opposition from environmentalists and local residents. In particular the requirement for a second parallel runway based on projected demand is disputed by opponents.

The first major element is an extension to the runway, targeted for completion in time for the 2012 London Olympics. The extension will increase the runway length to 3,000 metres (9,843 ft), as well as including a starter strip to provide a maximum takeoff run of 3,150 metres (10,335 ft). The airport owners believe there is likely to be sufficient demand for long-range direct services operated by aircraft whose operation would be constrained by the current runway. At 2,605 metres (8,547 ft), this is short for an airport with Birmingham’s passenger throughput and range of destinations, and limits aircraft to destinations on the east coast or in the midwest of North America, in the Gulf and Middle East, or on the South Asian subcontinent. The construction of this extension to the southern end of the runway will require the A45 Coventry Road to be diverted into a tunnel under the extended section. Plans for the extension of the airport runway and the construction of a new air traffic control tower were submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council on 7 January 2008. The plans were approved on 31 March 2009.

Taxiways will be improved to allow for terminal expansion and to improve runway occupancy rates. One new turnoff was completed in June 2006 and has seen an improvement on traffic rates on southerly operations, where the only available option for landing traffic had been to travel to the end of the runway to turn off.

Birmingham International Airport recently announced they were to merge Terminals 1 & 2 together. This is to be completed in March ready for the Summer period.

It was announced on 26 September 2007 that plans for a second runway had been scrapped but plans to build another terminal and increase capacity will go ahead with works expected to finish in 2012. It is estimated that 11 million passengers a year will use the airport by 2010 and 15 million by 2013.

In June 2008 work began on the construction of the new ‘International Pier’. The new Pier will be a three storey construction; 240 metres long and 24 metres wide. Departing passengers will be accommodated on the top level, with arriving passengers on the middle level and office accommodation for airline and handling agents on the ground floor.

The new facility will provide air-bridged aircraft parking for seven wide-bodied aircraft and enough space to serve 13 smaller aircraft at any given time and will be capable of accommodating ‘next generation’ environmentally-efficient wide-bodied aircraft such as the Airbus A380, Airbus A350 and the Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’ as well as the larger aircraft types such as the Boeing 777 which currently serves the airport on a daily basis. The new pier will also host a new lounge for Emirates.

The New International Pier was officially opened on 9 September 2009. As part of the airport’s 70th anniversary the airport welcomed the Airbus A380 as the first user of the pier. The special service was the first commercial A380 flight in the UK to take place outside London Heathrow.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/