Airspace over Europe might be reopened soon suggest test flights by Zuzana Zelenakova

Several European airlines dispatched test flights on Sunday to find out whether it is safe to fly again or not following the closure of European airspace due to volcanic ash cloud caused by the eruption of one of Iceland´s glaciers. Air France was one of those that reported successful first test flight over France. Airlines are developing pressure upon regulators to reopen the airspace also because they lose millions every day. Dutch airline KLM also informed about successful test flight over Europe and insisted on restoring air traffic over the continent. "The concentration of ash particles in the atmosphere is in all likelihood so little it poses no threat to air tr! ansport," said chairman of The Association of Dutch Pilots Evert van Zwol. "We are asking the authorities to really have a good look at the situation, because 100 percent safety does not exist," added vice president of the association and a Boeing 737 pilot for KLM Steven Verhagen. "It's easy to close down air space because then it's perfectly safe. But at some time you have to resume flights." However, according to the meteorologists, the situation is still unstable mainly due to constantly changing winds. In addition, the volcano in Iceland is still erupting occasionally spitting more ash into the atmosphere. Millions of passengers must have altered their plans due to the ban on air travel that was introduced Thursday. German Lufthansa also carried on flights but these were only to get the planes to the Frankfurt airport to wait until the restrictions are lifted. "We simply checked every single aircraft very carefully after the landing in Frankfurt to see whether there wa! s any damage that could have been caused by volcanic ash," sai! d Luftha nsa spokesman Wolfgang Weber. "Not the slightest scratch was found on any of the 10 planes."

related story (sgx17041): http://www.france24.com/en/20100418-test-flight-success-air-...

by Zuzana Zelenakova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

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