Originally Posted by
Twitcher
Britons stranded by flight restrictions as a result of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland could be returned to the UK through a "Spanish hub".
Ministers met to discuss plans before UK flight restrictions were extended until at least 1900 BST on Monday.
Ideas included flying those outside the no-fly zone to Spain and then using the Royal Navy and requisitioning merchant ships to help return them to the UK.
The Tories and Lib Dems had called for ministers to give out more information.
Travel agents' association Abta said its "rough estimate" was that 150,000 Britons had been unable to return to the UK because of flight restrictions.
"At no time in living memory has British airspace been shut down and affected this many people," a spokeswoman said.
Forecasters have warned the dust cloud may remain over the UK for several days.
The continued ban on UK flights comes as bodies representing European airports and airlines have called for flight restrictions to be reviewed.
Planes were first grounded in the UK at midday on Thursday amid fears that particles in the ash cloud generated by the volcanic eruption could cause engines to shut down.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson, who emerged from Sunday's 85-minute meeting of ministers flanked by several cabinet colleagues, said: "We will mobilise all possible means to get people home."
He said Prime Minister Gordon Brown would meet with his Spanish counterpart to explore whether Britons could be returned by landing in Spain - which is open to flights - from certain parts of the world.
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said Met Office advice was that it would not be safe for flights across most of northern Europe on Monday.
He said data from a number of test flights would go to regulators and there would be a meeting of European transport ministers on Monday.
Additional capacity had been introduced on other transport such as Eurostar and Eurtounnel trains, and ferries, he added.
Security minister Lord West, a former head of the Royal Navy, said using the navy to bring people home was an option.
The government's Cobra emergency committee is to meet at 0830 BST on Monday.
The Conservatives have released an eight-point plan they would like to see to tackle the situation.
It includes chartering ships to bring people home who are stranded in Europe and urging ferry and rail operators to retain their normal pricing structures.
Shadow transport secretary Theresa Villiers said: "With thousands of Britons stuck in airports overseas, it is hugely worrying that there is no end in sight for the flight ban."
Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker said it needed to be "urgently assessed" how much longer British passengers faced being stranded for.
Meanwhile, A British Airways Boeing 747 has completed a test flight at 30,000ft from Heathrow to Cardiff, via the Atlantic.
Chief executive Willie Walsh - who is a trained pilot - and four crew were on board.
BBC business editor Robert Peston reported that the 550-mile, a two-and-three-quarter hour flight had encountered no problems.
Engineers in Cardiff will make a more detailed assessment of the plane's engine overnight.
Precisely the sort of thing I was talking about in my post in this thread
here. 