Ash delaying planes again

CLOUD OF ASH THAT CLOSED UK AIRPORTS LAST NIGHT IS BEING BLOWN SOUTH TOWARDS FRANCE 7PM UPDATE: THE HIGH COURT IN LONDON HAS GRANTED AN INJUNCTION PREVENTING THE BA STRIKE FROM GOING AHEAD.

AIRLINE passengers travelling between France and the UK over the coming days are facing disruption from more volcanic ash. London's two busiest airports, Heathrow and Gatwick, were

closed overnight because of the ash. They reopened at 7.00 this morning but flight delays and cancellations are still expected and travellers should check with their airline. Manchester,

Liverpool, Leeds and Birmingham also closed yesterday but have since reopened. The latest ash prediction charts from the UK Met Office show the cloud being blown south towards northern

France - including Paris - later today and tomorrow. A mediator has been set up in France to handle any complaints about how airlines treat passengers during the ash delays. The service can

be reached by phone on 0800 000 402 during normal office hours or you can lodge a complaint online at this website. Ryanair was last week fined €3m by Italy's civil aviation body for

failing to look after 180 stranded passengers. The budget airline said during the first period of disruption last month that it would not be paying any compensation beyond the original price

of the ticket, but it has now backed down and agreed to follow EU rules. Further disruptions between France and the UK were likely from tomorrow as BA cabin-crew walk out on strike.

However, management have succeeded in getting a High Court injunction preventing the industrial action from going ahead. The walkout was due to run from May 18 to June 3, with one-day breaks

in the action on May 23, May 29 and June 4. Meanwhile, Eurostar is back to operating a normal service today after weekend delays due to a false alarm in one of the tunnels. Services were

temporarily suspended on Saturday morning and then operated for most of the day under a reduced timetable with just one tunnel open. RELATED STORIES: Your rights if air travel goes wrong

Mediator for air payout complaints Photo:Joshua Davis