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THE aviation industry sharply criticised European governments this week for their handling of airport closures, saying there was 'no co-ordination and no leadership' in the volcanic ash crisis that shut down European airports for a fifth straight day.
Some smaller airports reopened and European officials had hoped that flights could return to about 50 per cent of normal on Monday if the skies were clearing. However, authorities in Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands said their air space was still closed.
The situation has left travellers to and from Bahrain stranded including two British schoolgirls who were among passengers on board a Gulf Air flight forced to cancel take-off last Thursday morning.
Teachers and children from across Europe have also been unable to return to Bahrain, as reported in our sister newspaper, The Gulf Daily News. The International Air Transport Association says the airport lockdowns are costing the aviation industry at least $200 million a day.
Meeting in Paris, the group expressed its 'dissatisfaction with how governments have managed it, with no risk assessment, no consultation, no co-ordination and no leadership' and called for greater urgency in reopening Europe's skies.
Several major airlines safely tested the skies with flights that did not carry passengers. The announcement of these test flights prompted some airline officials to wonder whether authorities had overreacted to concerns that the microscopic particles of volcanic ash could cause jet engines to fail.
"With the weather now - clear blue skies and obviously no dense ash cloud to be seen - in our opinion there is absolutely no reason to worry about resuming flights," said Steven Verhagen, vice president of the Dutch Airline Pilots Association and a Boeing 737 pilot for KLM.
