Safety 'remained priority with sky closure'

Date: 23/4/2010

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has defended its decision to keep airspace over the UK closed during the disruptions caused by the Icelandic volcano eruption.

With clouds of ash floating over most of northern Europe in the last week following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Deirdre Hutton, chairman of the organisation, said that safety was of prime importance.

Ms Hutton told the Telegraph that the grounding of flights was "unprecedented" in aviation history and it is standard procedure for aircraft to avoid any contact with dustclouds to make sure that engine failures do not occur.

"Throughout this crisis, our key principle has been public safety. It's entirely understandable that passengers and airlines don't want an interruption to services. But we have to do what's right for public safety – and will continue to do so," the CAA official explained.

Transport secretary Lord Adonis recently denied that it reopened British airspace because of pressure from the airline industry – which was believed to have been losing close to £130 million every day during the disruption.