European authorities slammed over flight chaos

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British Airways has said it has asked the European Union and the UK government for financial compensation for the closure of airspace.
BA also said that its test flight through the no-fly zone had revealed “no variations in the aircraft’s normal operational performance”. Thousands of flights have been grounded since Thursday because of dangerous ash from an Icelandic volcano. European airlines have been critical of the way the EU has handled the crisis, and have pushed for the reopening of airspace as quickly as possible. Clark Boyd reports from London. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• In pictures: Europe grounded

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MARCO WERMAN:  I’m Marco Werman and this is The World.  European transport ministers agreed today to ease restrictions on air travel.  A ban on flights was imposed after an Icelandic volcano sent a huge cloud of ash wafting across the region.  Commercial traffic will begin again tomorrow.  The ongoing volcanic activity has caused tens of thousands of flights to be canceled since last Thursday.  Airlines have lost tens of millions of dollars.  But some recent test flights have brought the perceived dangers of flying through ash into question.  From London The World’s Clark Boyd reports.

CLARK BOYD:  For five days now experts have been telling governments and stranded travelers alike that a cloud of volcanic ash is not safe to fly through.  The ash contains tiny, highly abrasive particles that can get into jet engines and cause them to stop working.  Those particles can also damage the fuselage, electronics and windows.  And while European officials will allow some air travel beginning tomorrow, the world’s leading airline industry group today questioned whether the blanket ban on air travel needed to go on for so long.  The International Air Transport Association called in a European mess.  Anthony Council is a spokesman for the association.

ANTHONY COUNCIL:  Things should have been handled much better.  In this case we need to be much more accurate and much more definitive in the way that these decisions are made so that we ensure that safety is maintained at the same time, keep air space open as much as possible.

BOYD: European airlines took things into their own hands, or wings, over the weekend.  Some flew test flights through the ash cloud.  Dutch carrier KLM sent a commercial jet through the ash.  Officials said the plane suffered no damage at all.  Today British Airways did the same and reported that there were no variations in the aircraft’s normal operational performance.  Lufthansa flew ten planes through the cloud on the way back to Germany.  Karsten Benz, Lufthansa’s Vice President for Europe said nothing looked amiss.

KARSTEN BENZ:  These airplanes were climbing up to 10,000 feet as well as to 26,000 feet.  We haven’t seen, we can’t report any effects on engines or on engine performance.  Even fuselage and cockpit windows are left without any damage.

BOYD: Here’s how Lufthansa pilot Werner Knorr described his test flight.  Knorr said, I saw absolutely nothing of the ash cloud whatsoever.  It was a blue sky and there were no suspicious noises.  So many are asking “what gives?”

GUY GRATTON:  We’ve all worked with rules for years that said you just don’t fly where there’s any evidence of volcanic ash.

BOYD: Guy Gratton is the head of the U.K.’s Facility of Airborne Atmospheric Measurement.  Gratton says his team found evidence of dense layers of ash plumes between the ground and 20,000 feet.

GRATTON: It’s still quite a complex mixture of clear air and very worrying, but invisible volcanic ash at all sorts of heights.

BOYD: A U.S. official today said that particle build up had been found in a NATO F-16 fighter jet that had flown through European air space.  I think the air space is closed for a reason, the official said.  German scientists are hoping to get more answers about the dangers of the ash cloud.  Ulrich Schuman is with the German Aerospace Center.  His team is sending up another test flight.  Schuman says his team hopes to find out more about the actual spread of the volcanic particulate material, especially about the size and concentration of the particles.  The International Air Transport Association says it’s time to reassess blanket closures of the skies.  That would be welcomed by Michael O’Leary, he’s the CEO of low budget European carrier, Ryan Air.

MICHAEL O’LEARY:  Instead of just a blanket ban of flights across Europe, I think we’ll have to be much more targeted.  We’d be looking for much more I think, accurate information going forward as to where exactly there is a real danger to flights and where there isn’t.

BOYD: Already individual European countries are easing restrictions.  France has said it will be opening up airports and looking at usable air corridors.  Germany has given the go ahead for some transatlantic flights.  Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of Northern England are set to open up again for flights tomorrow morning.  It’s hoped that London airports can start handling flights again later on Tuesday.  All of it, officials note, subject to the whims of the volcano and the winds.  For The World, this is Clark Boyd in London.

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