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EU moves to help aviation heal $3.3 billion losses
The continent’s air traffic control agency also has assembled a team of experts to determine whether authorities reacted appropriately to the ash threat, which airlines said did not warrant a lengthy closure of large chunks of airspace. The experts will carry out a comprehensive review of the actual threat posed to aviation by the ash cloud and of the effectiveness of airspace closure as a response.
EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said the European Commission was asking member nations to provide airlines immediate relief with measures such as making market-rate loans and deferring payments for air traffic control services.
Lifting restrictions on nighttime flights meant to maintain quiet in neighborhoods around airports would help airlines repatriate stranded passengers and get delayed freight deliveries to their destinations, he said. “Now, as we are getting back to normal our focus can shift to relief measures for the industry,” Kallas said.
Kallas warned EU member states not to grant airlines state aid other than loans at market rates or guarantees as a way of improving their immediate cash flow problems.
The closure of a large chunk of European airspace due to the volcanic eruption in southern Iceland caused the cancellation of more than 100,000 flights, and left 10 million passengers stranded.
Kallas told reporters he had briefed the European Commission about the economic impact of the weeklong crisis. He said it had caused losses of estimated at between 1.5-2.5 billion euros and included not just the airlines, but also other aviation-related sectors such as tour operators.
“Europe needs a single regulator for a single European sky,” he said, adding that the first elements of the so-called Single European Sky could be in place by the end of 2010.
Europe’s independent air traffic management agency Eurocontrol -- which groups 38 member states -- also has been pushing for implementation of the Single European Sky concept, which has been under negotiation for the past two decades.
Its analysis of the threat to aircraft posed by ash exposure will be based on data collected from pilots’ in-flight reports, maintenance logs and post-flight checks, the meteorological data on the geographical spread of the ash cloud and its vertical distribution, and findings submitted by the airlines and air traffic control centers.
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