Da il Times
An emergency meeting of ministers will decide today if Britain should reopen its airspace after the Navy was put on standby to rescue holidaymakers stranded by the volcanic ash cloud.
Military and requisitioned commercial ships could be used to pick up thousands of Britons, the Government announced as it came under pressure from airlines to review the ban.
The Association of European Airlines, whose 36 members include British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, called for an “immediate reassessment” of restrictions after test flights reported no damage from the dust. It said the ban on flights covering more than 20 countries did not match the response to volcanic ash in other parts of the world.
Airlines including KLM, Lufthansa and Air France carried out more than 30 test flights over the weekend to see if safe paths could be found through the ash. A BA 747 jet carrying Willie Walsh, its chief executive, made a two-hour journey from Heathrow before landing at Cardiff last night. A BA spokesman said: “The conditions were perfect and the aircraft encountered no difficulties.”
British airports will remain closed until at least 7pm today. However, forecasters say that the cloud of ash from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano could remain over Britain until at least the end of the week. Einar Kjartansson, of the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said: “It is likely that the production of ash will continue at a comparable level for some days or weeks.”
A British toddler was in a critical condition last night after bone marrow needed for a transplant was held back in Canada. She was one of 16 patients said to be in “critical need” because of the lack of bone marrow supplies.
About 150,000 Britons are stranded abroad, according to the travel association Abta. “There are lots of other people who are still on holiday,” a spokeswoman said, adding that an estimated two million Britons went abroad in Easter week.
Gordon Brown met ministers and scientific advisers and the Government’s Cobra committee was due to meet this morning to consider if the latest evidence could lead to a Europe-wide easing of restrictions. Ministers are also investigating bringing Britons stranded in the US home via Spain.
The International Civil Aviation Authority said that the disruption was worse than that caused by the shutdown of air travel after 9/11. Airlines are reported to be losing at least $200 million (£130 million) a day.
The Eurocontrol aviation agency said that 4,000 flights were expected in European airspace yesterday compared with 24,000 normally.
Brian Flynn, its head of operations, denied that the authorities were being over-cautious, saying they were using the “accepted methodology” of guidelines set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. But the British Airline Pilots’ Association raised questions about the blanket ban on flights and called for a banking-style rescue of the industry, warning that a number of airlines faced the threat of bankruptcy.
In poche parole anche se diverse compagnie hanno datto diversi tests
lo stop sui cieli Inglesi potrebbe durare sino alla fine della settimana .
:diavoletto:
P.S.
STASERA SI RIUNISCE ALLE ORE 19 ORA LOCALE il consiglio dei ministri inglese per decidere se riaprirei cieli o no
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