European air services near normal despite fresh ash cloud
04 May 2010
Brussels: Despite the resurgence of volcanic ash in the airspace over Ireland and part of western Scotland European flights are expected to be at almost normal levels on Tuesday, European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said.
About the only major casualty of the closure of airspace over Ireland and Scotland could have been David Cameron, leader of UK's Conservative party, who was due to make a last minute appearance in Northern Ireland to reassure voters that he had no intention to slash public financing for this part of the United Kingdom.
Since it appears that flights to the region may resume he may make it there. Cameron is locked in a fierce three-way fight in the parliamentary elections along with Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
In Dublin, the Irish Aviation Authority said it would allow flights to resume from all Irish airports from 1200 GMT on Tuesday. However, it warned of further disruptions later in the week and intermittently through the summer.
The fresh disruption comes after European air traffic was almost entirely grounded last month because of clouds of ash spreading over Continental airspace from a volcanic eruption in Iceland.
It is estimated that air space closures may have cost Europe's airlines 1.5-2.5 billion euros ($2-3.3 billion).
The silver lining for airlines would have been the fact that their aviation fuel bills would have been reduced on an average by about 15 per cent.
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