Delicious
Digg
Facebook
Twitter
Yahoo!
TechnoratiFresh ash cloud foils plans to reopen Europe's airspace
Despite an agreement by European Union transport ministers to reopen Europe's airspace on Tuesday, air traffic controllers in Britain warn that the Eyjafjallajökull volcano has released a fresh burst of ash that is heading for the UK and other major air routes. The forecast has prompted several countries to re-close their airspace and airlines to cancel more flights.
Click here for the latest status of travel disruptions in Europe
"The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east towards the UK," said Britain's National Air Traffic Services (NATS), said in an overnight statement.
According to NATS, Scotland's airspace will be able to reopen as planned from 0700 GMT and airports in northern England may follow, though London airports will remain closed.
British Airways, which had planned to resume flights on Tuesday, has decided to cancel all short-haul services following NATS' forecast. Some long-haul flights may be able to take off after 16:00 GMT.
Australia's Quantas Airways has also extended its ban on flights to and from Europe for another 24 hours from Tuesday morning.
Aviation authorities in Norway, Denmark, Ireland, Hungary and Poland have all at least partially re-closed their airspace.
Airlines had been hoping that the EU agreement on Monday would signal the beginning of a return to normal.
|
"From tomorrow morning on, we should progressively see more planes start to fly," EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said following the emergency talks.
"The airlines have been very critical, of what they see, as a very slow response of governments and regulatory bodies in the last few days," John Strickland, an aviation analyst, told RFI.
"Given that airlines, especially those that are EU registered carriers, and bound by EU legislation, are having to pay out for food and hotel accommodation to passengers who are on already disrupted flights, many of which are coming from long-haul destinations and have diverted," says the Managing Director of JLS Consulting.
"Now the kind of rules and regulations which oblige airlines to pay these costs, were not really designed for this eventuality of an open-ended natural disaster of this kind."
"The airlines are looking at two levels - one, to see a way that they are not required to pick up this cost - and secondly, can there be more flexibility applied operationally that would allow them to operate more flights, as we’re beginning to see today, without in any way jeopardising safety."
Some airlines are expected to resume services on Tuesday.
Lufthansa of Germany is planning to run almost all scheduled long-haul flights, while Dutch carrier KLM is expecting to run services in and out of Amsterdam airport.
Air France says long-distance flights to and from Paris will return to "normal service".
Both of Paris' international airports, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly, are open and will run three-quarters of international flights on Tuesday, according to French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo.
