Germany, France demand binding aviation ash rules

[May 04, 2010]  BRUSSELS (AP) -- Germany and France demanded binding rules Tuesday to determine when air space should be closed because of volcanic ash and when planes can be allowed to fly as European Union transport ministers held another emergency meeting on aviation.

Last month's chaotic closures of much of Europe's airspace showed the need to reform the continent's patchwork air traffic control system.

Airlines claim a political overreaction kept far too many flights grounded -- 100,000 in all -- after ash from Iceland's erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano drifted over Europe. The airport closures cost airlines over $2 billion in loses and stranded 10 million passengers.

The ministers were seeking more coordination over airspaces to avoid airline chaos and commercial losses because of events like the volcanic ash crisis.

"It's simply not acceptable that every country just does what it wants. We need consistent rules," said German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer.

French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau called for "an efficient and fast system for managing such a crisis."

The European Aviation Safety Agency needs to develop a real expertise enabling it to better calculate ash levels and determine how much aircraft motors can cope with, he said.

Underscoring the urgency, Spanish Transport Minister Jose Blanco had maps of Tuesday's volcanic ash cloud spreading over Ireland and Scotland before the meeting opened. Ireland hoped to reopen its airspace later Tuesday but the shifting winds underlined the fact that aviation chaos could return and hurt Europe during the peak summer travel season.

Blanco acknowledged that "there must be more coordination to be more efficient."

EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas is asking the EU's 27 member nations to give airlines relief such as market-rate loans and deferring payments for air traffic control services. But Kallas warned EU members not to grant airlines state aid other than those loans.

Kallas said the weeklong crisis had caused losses of estimated at between euro1.5-2.5 billion ($2 billion to $3.3 billion) and included not just the airlines but other aviation-related sectors such as tour operators.

Much of the problem is that the EU's airspace is still cut up in 27 different zones. Kallas is pushing for an "open sky" system where traffic could flow more seamlessly and wants to get a European network manager in place this year.

Europe's air traffic control agency Eurocontrol -- which groups 38 member states -- also has been pushing for implementation of the Single European Sky concept, which has been under negotiation for two decades.

Kallas also wants to make sure that passenger rights on rebates and compensation because of the cancellations and delays are fully respected.

French tour operators and a leading consumer group met Tuesday to work out compensation for trips thwarted by last month's airport closures. They signed an agreement saying the 80,000 French people whose trips were canceled because of the ash will not get their money back but can take the trips at a later date.

[Associated Press; By EMMA VANDORE and RAF CASERT]

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