THE boss of Bournemouth-based Bath Travel has hit out at the latest volcanic ash cloud problems.

Stephen Bath, joint managing director of the firm – whose sister airline, Palmair, had to close in the wake of the 2010 ash crisis that paralysed the airline industry – labelled the cloud a “phantom”.

Speaking on the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 yesterday, he said that the industry agreed with Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who condemned the caution of the Civil Aviation Authority and said his airline should be allowed to fly.

Mr Bath said: “There’s no evidence that any aircraft has ever got into trouble unless it flies very close to a volcano.

“No aircraft has ever fallen out of the sky.”

But a geologist speaking on the programme said it was “reckless” to fly in volcanic ash, while a pilot said it had been proven jet engines could be damaged by ash.

Although the return of ash cloud problems has caused flights in Scotland to be cancelled, the scale of disruption has been nowhere near what was seen last year.

Mr Bath added: “The kind of grit or dust that would actually sandblast the front window of a jumbo jet would have to be fairly large. The big stuff falls in the sea within 100 miles of Iceland.

“I do think there’s an answer and it’s pretty shameful that one year ago the only plane that could measure ash for the UK was grounded and it’s still not available.

“The airlines have a great deal more to lose than any bureaucrats on the ground and they also know a lot more about the business.”

Mr Bath was also vocal during last year’s crisis – he said closing UK airspace at that time was a “massive overreaction”.

Bournemouth and Southampton Airports were both operating as normal yesterday.