European airports are rapidly getting back to normal after all airspace restrictions were lifted as the danger from volcanic ash clouds faded.Air traffic agency Eurocontrol said it expected some 22,500 or 80% out of a normal weekday total of 28,000 flight
European airports are rapidly getting back to normal after all airspace restrictions were lifted as the danger from volcanic ash clouds faded.
Air traffic agency Eurocontrol said it expected some 22,500 or 80% out of a normal weekday total of 28,000 flights to go ahead on Wednesday. Normal services are expected to resume on Thursday.
Europe’s busiest airport, London Heathrow, reopened at 10pm local time on Tuesday (9am NZ time yesterday) when a flight from Vancouver landed.
All other major airports in Europe are open and airspace restrictions are only limited to a small part of northern Europe, mainly in Finland.
So far, three Air New Zealand flights have departed from London and all are due to arrive in Auckland on Friday morning. Two are going through Los Angeles and the other through Hong Kong.
The airline has put on seven special flights to reduce the backlog of travellers. Normal scheduled services will resume on Friday.
Since the restrictions were imposed last Thursday, a total of 95,000 flights were cancelled, Eurocontrol said. International airline association Iata said the disruption had cost the industry $US1.7 billion and called for European governments to help carriers.
Iata chief Giovanni Bisignani said the economic impact of the six-day shutdown had been "devastating" and governments "must take their responsibility" and consider ways to compensate the airlines for lost revenue.
European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas has denied the EU had taken too long to respond to calls for airspace to be reopened, saying people's lives were at stake.
The UN's International Civil Aviation Organisation said it would lead moves to develop a global standard for the concentration of ash in the air beyond which it was dangerous to fly.
Meanwhile, Icelandic officials said the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which sent up the ash clouds, had lost nearly 80% of its intensity since the weekend, although the situation remains changeable.
There are concerns the eruption could set off the nearby, larger Katla volcano, which sits on the Myrdalsjokull glacier, but officials said no activity had been detected. Its last major eruption was in 1918.
