Ash cloud: Lord Adonis denies pressure to lift ban
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis has denied that the decision to lift UK flight restrictions was the result of pressure from the airline industry.
The ban on flights due to the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland over the UK was removed at 2200 BST on Tuesday.
Lord Adonis said the move had been made after an assessment of how much ash in the atmosphere was safe for aircraft.
The Conservatives questioned why this had not been established earlier, and urged an inquiry into the "fiasco".
'Urgent issue'
Airlines and airports had been keen for the restrictions to be lifted, with several carriers - including British Airways - conducting test flights that they said demonstrated it was safe to fly.
On Monday, British Airways asked the European Union and the UK government for financial compensation for the disruption, saying the shutdown was costing it £15m-£20m a day.
UK airports operator BAA said the ban was costing it £5m-£6m a day.
Asked by presenter Jeremy Paxman on BBC Two's Newsnight programme about how much pressure the government had come under from the airlines, Lord Adonis said: "They have obviously wanted to be able to fly their planes - of course they have - but that has not been the issue at stake here.
"The issue at stake here has been the assessment of the safety authorities as to what is the safe way in which planes can fly when there is a presence of ash.
"The fact which has changed in the last week is we have had a volcanic eruption and having to assess safe levels of ash content in the atmosphere within which planes can fly has been an urgent issue which the safety authorities have had to deal with.
"That's been what's changed over the last five days - it's not been pressure from the industry."
'Let down'
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "This solution has been reached as a result of the close working between the government, the Civil Aviation Authority, airlines and the manufacturers, and will allow the thousands of UK citizens stranded abroad to return home to their families."
He added: "We will of course continue to monitor the situation closely. As we have said throughout safety is our primary concern."
But shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said Labour's "misjudgement and mismanagement" had "badly let down" the travelling public and urged the prime minister to immediately announce a full inquiry into the "fiasco".
She added: "Six days into the crisis, we're suddenly told that there are actually levels of ash which are compatible with safe flying.
"The question angry passengers and airlines are already asking is why the government hadn't worked this out before the crisis occurred."
But Lord Adonis said: "The government has taken every measure we can, and at every stage. We have done everything we reasonably can to protect the travelling public."
Tolerance levels
Dame Deirdre Hutton, of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), said there had been detailed consultation with experts to reassess the tolerance of planes to the ash cloud.
The CAA said it was a "situation without precedent" and that decisions had been made based on "thorough gathering of data and analysis".
"The major barrier to resuming flights has been understanding tolerance levels of aircraft to ash," the CAA said.
"Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas."
After the lifting of the restrictions, the first British Airways flight to touch down from Heathrow was a service already in the air from Vancouver, which landed shortly before 2200 BST.
The airline's chief executive Willie Walsh said he was pleased with the decision, but said it would take weeks to get back to normal levels of operation.
He said: "We're now at British Airways going to start the difficult task of getting our stranded customers back home. I think this is an airlift that is unprecedented but we will make every effort to get our people back home."
Mr Walsh said "lessons can be learned" and added: "There will be plenty of time for a post-mortem of what has happened over the last few days." He said parts of UK airspace could have been opened several days ago.
"My personal belief is that we could have safely continued operating for a period of time. I think there were occasions when the decision to close airspace could have been justified," he said.
Flights have been grounded across the UK and much of Europe since Thursday following the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull.
