The Association of European Airlines has appealed to the European Union's Council of Transport Ministers to allow airlines to assess the risk of operating in volcanic ash, and to be the final arbiters of whether flying is safe or not.
The AEA says: "The Eyjafjallajökull eruption, while spectacular, had repercussions far out of proportion to the limited threat posed to aircraft."
The AEA has asked the transport ministers "to allow the responsibility for operational decisions to reside with those who have the expertise and experience of dealing with the avoidance of risk in their day-to-day business - the airlines and their pilots."
Ministers, says the AEA, "must not let slip the opportunity to limit disruption in the event of further volcanic events. The faulty processes that led to the prolonged shutdown of most of European aviation in April, with sporadic further restrictions into May, must not be allowed to reoccur."
The April/May eruption cost AEA airlines about €1.2 billion ($1.48 billion), according to the association, a figure that it says was inflated by unnecessary restrictions on flying imposed by national authorities, and by passenger compensation rules inappropriate to a Europe-wide curtailment of operations for an extended period.
"Virtually all airlines flying in European airspace were affected by these decisions, and many were unable to conduct any business for a period of several days," says AEA secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus. "We urgently seek guidance from the transport ministers as to how airlines may seek restitution for the losses they have suffered."
The AEA also sought from the ministers confirmation of their commitment to the Single European Sky. In the AEA's opinion, "the uncoordinated operating restrictions in European airspace during the eruption drew an undertaking from the European Commission to accelerate the Single European Sky process to reform air traffic management in Europe".The AEA wants the ministers to confirm their backing for the EC.
Meanwhile, at a convention of aviation lawyers and insurers in London, former British Airways chief pilot and president of the Royal Aeronautical Society Capt Jock Lowe said the airlines had safely and successfully operated in the vicinity of volcanic eruptions all over the world since 1984 using a rule that works: avoid the plume of a volcano by at least 185km (100nm) and avoid visible volcanic ash.
Related content including images from the air, ground and satellites on the Icelandic ash cloud
- ASH CLOUD LIVE: IATA furious at 'theoretical' basis for airspace closures
Source: Flight International
