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All UK airports have reopened

All UK airports reopened at 10pm on April 20th.

Transport secretary Lord Adonis made the announcement following a meeting with the CAA to assess the continuing effects of volcanic ash from an eruption in Iceland.

Some restrictions will be in place, but they will be much less rigorous than those which have been in place since Thursday last week.

The CAA has issued guidance saying after the ban has lifted airlines must do their own safety checks, inspect their aircraft for ash damage and report any incidents to the CAA.

It said: “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.

“Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas.”

BA plans to operate all longhaul flights departing from Heathrow and Gatwick tomorrow. It is hoped the airline will bring flights into Heathrow and Gatwick between 5am and noon.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh told Sky News it would be weeks before the industry could get back to normal.

He said: "We've had thousands of crew stuck abroad and we have to get them back to Heathrow."

Walsh said the industry had learned from the experience. "We'll look at what has happened and what could have been done better. The industry has learned an awful lot in a very short time.

He added: "The decisions that have been taken were with safety in mind. There could be further eruptions in the next few weeks, and if that means we have to suspend flights again, we will do."