EUROPEAN FLIGHTS:THE EU warned yesterday that widespread flight disruption in European airspace was likely to continue for the rest of the week as airlines slowly restored services in areas deemed safe to fly.
Almost half of all scheduled flights operated yesterday, up from one-third on Monday, although many airports remain shut following forecasts that a new ash plume could be on its way from Iceland.
With millions of leisure and business passengers disrupted by cancellations and uncertainty over the likelihood of flights being restored, the resumption of thousands of flights came on foot of a EU deal on Monday to ease restrictions.
Governments took extraordinary measures to help stranded citizens. Britain has deployed three navy ships, one of them an aircraft carrier, to bring its citizens home from continental Europe following estimates that some 150,000 Britons were stranded.
The US administration said it was trying to assist 40,000 Americans stuck in Britain.
While some businesses are suffering because of the crisis, others are taking advantage of it.
The German luxury car manufacturer BMW was preparing to stop production at three of its plants due to a shortage of electronic components.
With tolling companies reporting increased revenues as would-be passengers take to the roads, video- and tele-conferencing companies reported a surge in demand as businesses try to cope with the disruption.
Even though lifting of some flight restrictions brought a measure of relief, huge uncertainty over the volcano’s eruption pattern and variable weather projections means that national authorities must review their policies every six hours.
The new rules divide European airspace into open, closed and restricted airspace, with a very strict no-fly policy applying in closed airspace. The opening of restricted airspace is highly sensitive as it is for national authorities in each country to gauge on the basis of their risk assessment whether to allow flights.
“We are faced with an unprecedented crisis. The disruption will continue over the week,” said a spokeswoman for EU transport commissioner Slim Kallas.
Although the European Commission said no airline or government had made any tentative or formal applications for emergency state aid to help them get through the crisis, the executive’s president acknowledged huge losses in the airline sector.
“They are suffering severe economic losses,” Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament in Strasbourg at a plenary session curtailed by the volcanic ash crisis.
The session ends tonight, one day early, after a decision to cancel voting by MEPs as many of them were unable to travel to Strasbourg in France.
While many airports reopened, numerous flights remained cancelled yesterday. Heathrow airport in London, Europe’s busiest, remained closed as the authorities in Britain shut airports in the south of the country.
Eurocontrol, the European aviation body, said last night that some 13,000 of about 28,000 scheduled flights flew yesterday.
“Almost 75 per cent of the total continent area is free of any restrictions. This area includes: Austria, the Balkan area, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, southern France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Romania, northern Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine,” the organisation said.
As efforts to contain the crisis continued, a European Central Bank council member said the eruption would damage the economic recovery of the euro area.
“The growth pattern is expected to be uneven owing to a number of special factors, which now also include the effects of the volcanic ash,” said Erkki Liikanen, head of the Finnish central bank.