No-frills carrier Ryanair has called the recent closure of airspace over Scotland and the north of England “unnecessary”.
The airline said it carried out two test flights in the areas thought to have been affected by the high density volcanic ash, but both came back with no signs of coming into contact with any ash.
A Ryanair spokesman said: “During the flight there was no visible volcanic ash cloud or any other presence of volcanic ash and the post flight inspection revealed no evidence of volcanic ash on the airframe, wings or engines.”
“The absence of any volcanic ash in the atmosphere supports Ryanair’s stated view that there is no safety threat to aircraft in this mythical “red zone” which is another misguided invention by the UK Met Office and the Civil Aviation Authority.”
The airline was forced to cancel a number of flights due to the ash cloud – something the spokesman said in Ryanair's view was “unnecessary”.
Ryanair has also claimed that the mapping of the ash cloud was wrong.
The airline's spokesman said: “Ryanair again calls on the CAA to accept that these UK predictions are simply works of fiction, as proven by two Ryanair and one BA flight through supposed “red zones” which encountered no volcanic ash whatsoever during flight and post flight inspections.”