European airports start to reopen for flights
Posted on Monday, April 19, 2010
A small number of flights have taken off from northern Europe after five days of inactivity caused by the spread of volcanic ash from Iceland.
Three flights departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport late on Monday, bound for New York, Shanghai and Dubai.
There are hopes that many routes within Europe will be able to resume operations on Tuesday.
But UK air traffic officials said a new ash cloud spreading from Iceland cast doubt on plans to reopen UK airspace.
Earlier, the UK air traffic control body, Nats, said the flight ban would be lifted over Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
But it later said there was now a worsening situation in some areas. The outlook for Northern Ireland is most uncertain.
"This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working," said a statement from Nats.
British Airways says it is "reviewing" its plan to resume flights from London airports from 1800 GMT, in the light of the latest reports.
Three zones
EU transport ministers proposed creating a core no-fly area, a limited-service zone and an open-skies area.
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Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings said his country "taking a lead" in restarting flights, but warned that further suspensions might prove necessary if the situation worsens.
Swiss and northern Italian airspace will reopen from 0600 GMT, and France is opening some air corridors to Paris.
But the skies over Germany are due to remain closed until 1200 GMT, with some exceptions.
A KLM flight to New York was one of three to leave on Monday evening
The BBC's Nik Gowing, at Frankfurt airport in Germany, says that several flights have arrived in the last hour from America and elsewhere, and that passengers reported a normal service on board.
But he says that out of 100 flights scheduled in the next 12 hours, some 95 have already been cancelled and he says the situation remains very fluid.
In Madrid, our correspondent Sarah Rainsford says that passengers have been arriving on time for their flights but have had to queue for several hours at the information desk to find alternative transport if their flights have been cancelled.
She says that on Monday dozens of coaches were laid on, taking people to Paris, Brussels, and Geneva - and this will be the case again on Tuesday if European airspace does not open up as expected.
The International Air Transport Association earlier labelled the chaos a mess and an embarrassment for Europe.
The body says its losses have soared over $1bn (£650m; 740m euros), since much of Europe's airspace was closed last week because of ash from southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano.
Three flights departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport late on Monday, bound for New York, Shanghai and Dubai.
There are hopes that many routes within Europe will be able to resume operations on Tuesday.
But UK air traffic officials said a new ash cloud spreading from Iceland cast doubt on plans to reopen UK airspace.
Earlier, the UK air traffic control body, Nats, said the flight ban would be lifted over Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
But it later said there was now a worsening situation in some areas. The outlook for Northern Ireland is most uncertain.
"This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working," said a statement from Nats.
British Airways says it is "reviewing" its plan to resume flights from London airports from 1800 GMT, in the light of the latest reports.
Three zones
EU transport ministers proposed creating a core no-fly area, a limited-service zone and an open-skies area.
EXPERT ADVICE
Latest health advice
Latest: Air passenger rights
Q&A: Volcanic ash cloud
Travel latest
Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings said his country "taking a lead" in restarting flights, but warned that further suspensions might prove necessary if the situation worsens.
Swiss and northern Italian airspace will reopen from 0600 GMT, and France is opening some air corridors to Paris.
But the skies over Germany are due to remain closed until 1200 GMT, with some exceptions.
A KLM flight to New York was one of three to leave on Monday evening
The BBC's Nik Gowing, at Frankfurt airport in Germany, says that several flights have arrived in the last hour from America and elsewhere, and that passengers reported a normal service on board.
But he says that out of 100 flights scheduled in the next 12 hours, some 95 have already been cancelled and he says the situation remains very fluid.
In Madrid, our correspondent Sarah Rainsford says that passengers have been arriving on time for their flights but have had to queue for several hours at the information desk to find alternative transport if their flights have been cancelled.
She says that on Monday dozens of coaches were laid on, taking people to Paris, Brussels, and Geneva - and this will be the case again on Tuesday if European airspace does not open up as expected.
The International Air Transport Association earlier labelled the chaos a mess and an embarrassment for Europe.
The body says its losses have soared over $1bn (£650m; 740m euros), since much of Europe's airspace was closed last week because of ash from southern Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano.
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