Ryanair has labeled a report by scientists which justified the closure of European airspace followed last year’s volcanic eruption as ‘nonsensical’.
The airline said there was no evidence of any volcanic ash over large swathes of the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Portugal or the Canary Islands following the eruption in April 2010.
It said there was no reason to close north European airspace, except for a 50 mile exclusion zone immediately around the Icelandic volcano
The airline has called on the Icelandic and Danish scientists, who published the report last weekend, to explain how aircraft fly around volcanic eruptions in Alaska and southeast Asia, simply by establishing 30 to 50kms no-fly zones, without any threat to safety.
"There was no justification for the closure of airspace over locations such as the Canary Islands which was more than 3,000 kms removed from the volcanic eruption in Iceland and where there was no evidence of any volcanic ash whatsoever," it said.
The airline claimed the report was designed to "cover the embarrassment’ of bungling scientists and regulators who completely cocked up and mismanaged the closure of much of Europe’s airspace".
By Linsey McNeill
