During the last couple of months Europe has been struck by bad luck. The past winter has been very difficult for the European continent; bad weather conditions, which resulted in travel and trade restrictions, further weakened its economy. As it had just barely recovered, along came a volcano eruption in Iceland. The ashes it emitted spread throughout Europe, ending air traffic in most of Europe.
The media has focused on the dilemma of travelers being stuck at places they were supposed to leave for various reasons, or compelling them to travel by the much more expensive and/or time consuming means like the train, bus or even by taxi. As if this was not bad enough, a lot of goods traded are transported by plane, meaning that the stop on air traffic will hurt trade too.Because of this we can be sure that the air traffic restrictions will hurt the European economies. Just how big the effect will be is uncertain; it all depends on how long the problem persists.I should perhaps also comment on the fact that many airlines have criticized the decision to close air traffic. Although one needs to be an expert to give a correct scientific assessment of the effects caused by volcano ash on air traffic I found that from what I've read about tests made by experts, it seems that only really great quantities of volcano ash could disrupt a plane, and that low quantities which are spread around Europe are not substantial enough to endanger a flight and it would be possible to fly a plane safely.An article posted on the Mail Online quotes Lord Adonis, Secretary of Transport, stating “ we were “over cautious” in our handling of the crisis”. He continues: “I think it’s fair to say that we have been too cautious. “We” being the international safety regulators.”
In The Telegraph, Giovanni Bisignani who is director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), is quoted saying:
"This is a European embarrassment and it's a European mess,”
“It took five days to organize a conference call with the ministers of transport. Europeans are still using a system that's based on a theoretical model, instead of taking a decision based on facts and risk assessment.”
"This decision (to close airspace) has to be based on facts and supported by risk assessment. We need to replace this blanket approach with a practical approach."
It is understandable that European governments opted for safety first but we must not forget that nowadays air traffic is an essential component of our modern economy.
In The Telegraph, Giovanni Bisignani who is director-general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), is quoted saying:
"This is a European embarrassment and it's a European mess,”
“It took five days to organize a conference call with the ministers of transport. Europeans are still using a system that's based on a theoretical model, instead of taking a decision based on facts and risk assessment.”
"This decision (to close airspace) has to be based on facts and supported by risk assessment. We need to replace this blanket approach with a practical approach."
It is understandable that European governments opted for safety first but we must not forget that nowadays air traffic is an essential component of our modern economy.
NO traffic means NO trade.
We should of course continue to monitor the ash clouds, and stop traffic whenever the risk of crashes is high. But so far, the standards for allowing air traffic have been very strict, and this needs to be changed. After all, these restrictions will show poor financial performances of the airline industry for the second quarter.
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