European airlines called for a lift of the flight ban over most of Europe imposed due to the volcanic ash spewing from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Closing airspace in about 20 countries in Europe affected millions of passengers and has cost the aviation industry roughly $200 million in losses daily.
An EU representative told reporters on Sunday that half of European flights might be operational on Monday, if weather forecasts predicting the dissipation of the clouds are correct.
European transport ministers will meet on Monday to review the results of test flights and to discuss the ban.
Several European airlines have successfully run empty test flights testing the impact of the ash on the planes.
Germany’s Lufthansa AG performed 10 flights from Munich to Frankfurt on Saturday at low altitude to check if the volcanic ash would cause any damage to the airplane, particularly to the engine.
“Not the slightest scratch was found on any of the 10 planes,” spokesman Wolfgang Weber told the Associated Press.
Dutch airline KLM also performed a series of successful test flights, which according to the company showed no damage to the airplanes.
Under normal circumstances, volcanic eruptions create lava, not ash. But the Icelandic volcano continues to release ash into the air due to the cooling effect of the glacier.
Moreover, since the power of the eruption is relatively small, the ash is not being pushed out of the atmosphere, but remains close to the earth.
In 1989, a KLM airliner saw all four engines fail after flying through a cloud of volcanic ash.
This recent batch of European airport closings is the largest in history since World War II.
The eruptions from the volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier started on March 20 and recurred on April 14. The first eruption prompted an evacuation of thousands of Icelanders. The second one has created extensive clouds of smoke and ash that are currently blowing over large parts of Europe.
An EU representative told reporters on Sunday that half of European flights might be operational on Monday, if weather forecasts predicting the dissipation of the clouds are correct.
European transport ministers will meet on Monday to review the results of test flights and to discuss the ban.
Several European airlines have successfully run empty test flights testing the impact of the ash on the planes.
Germany’s Lufthansa AG performed 10 flights from Munich to Frankfurt on Saturday at low altitude to check if the volcanic ash would cause any damage to the airplane, particularly to the engine.
“Not the slightest scratch was found on any of the 10 planes,” spokesman Wolfgang Weber told the Associated Press.
Dutch airline KLM also performed a series of successful test flights, which according to the company showed no damage to the airplanes.
Under normal circumstances, volcanic eruptions create lava, not ash. But the Icelandic volcano continues to release ash into the air due to the cooling effect of the glacier.
Moreover, since the power of the eruption is relatively small, the ash is not being pushed out of the atmosphere, but remains close to the earth.
In 1989, a KLM airliner saw all four engines fail after flying through a cloud of volcanic ash.
This recent batch of European airport closings is the largest in history since World War II.
The eruptions from the volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier started on March 20 and recurred on April 14. The first eruption prompted an evacuation of thousands of Icelanders. The second one has created extensive clouds of smoke and ash that are currently blowing over large parts of Europe.
