Air traffic in Europe should be back to "almost 100%" on Thursday, after six days of unprecedented travel chaos, the air traffic agency Eurocontrol says.

 

Airlines resumed services across Europe on Wednesday, with most scheduled flights going ahead.

But tens of thousands remain stranded around the world after ash from an Icelandic volcano caused the shutdown.

The airline industry says it has lost $1.7bn (£1.1bn) and has called for compensation from European goverment.

The head of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), Giovanni Bisignani, said the impact of the shutdown had been "devastating" and governments "must take their responsibility" and help carriers.

Eurocontrol said it expected about 22,500 flights to have taken place on Wednesday, out of a normal weekday total of 28,000.
"It is anticipated that almost 100% of air traffic will take place in Europe" on Thursday, the agency added.

At London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest, traffic ran at 90% normal service on Wednesday.

Many night flights are being allowed temporarily to help clear the backlog of stranded passengers

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European airports have reopened for business, almost a week after a cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano paralysed the air travel industry.

About 80% of European flights were expected to operate on Wednesday.

But delays are expected, as airlines try to cope with the backlog from the cancellation of 95,000 flights.

International air transport group Iata says the disruption has cost the industry $1.7bn (£1.1bn) and called for European governments to help carriers.

KEY POINTS

• UK and European airports reopen for business
• Many flights still cancelled or delayed
• Airlines begin to repatriate stranded passengers
• 80% of European flights due to operate
• Flight disruptions cost airlines $1.7bn (£1.1bn)
• Icelandic volcano has lost 80% of its intensity

Iata chief Giovanni Bisignani said the economic impact of the six-day shutdown had been "devastating" and governments "must take their responsibility" and consider ways to compensate the airlines for lost revenue.

Several European airlines, including British Airways, have criticised the extent of the flight bans.
Meanwhile, all of Europe's main air hubs were operating on Wednesday.

Air traffic agency Eurocontrol said it expected some 22,500 out of a normal weekday total of 28,000 flights to go ahead.

"It is anticipated that almost 100% of air traffic will take place in Europe" on Thursday, the agency added.  read more

 

Icelandic volcano eruption 'declining

The eruption from the Icelandic volcano that has caused travel chaos across Europe is declining according to Professor Pall Einarsson of the University of Iceland.

The Geophysicist said that the Eyjafjallajokull volcano would continue to be monitored closely but "the explosive part of the eruption" was considerably reduced.read more

The UK Met Office is still detecting an ash cloud in European airspace, so why is it now safe to allow planes to fly?

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has confirmed that the guidelines regarding flying through volcanic ash have been changed, following six days of discussions between aviation engineers and experts to "find a way to tackle this immense challenge, unknown in the UK and Europe in living memory".

A spokeswoman from the CAA told BBC News: "Air manufacturers, both engine and airframe, were asked to look at the scientific evidence from test flights and at the Met Office data, to understand how much volcanic ash in the atmosphere… jet engines could tolerate [without being] damaged."

Now, scientists and engineers have agreed a safe threshold - a concentration of ash of 0.002g per cubic metre of air. At or below this concentration, there is no damage to the engine.

Current data suggested that concentrations of ash in UK airspace were around 100 micrograms (or 0.0001g) per cubic metre, explained Dr Grant Allen from the Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Manchester.

"Analysis of those atmospheric measurements is early and still ongoing and being supplemented with new measurements all the time," he said.

"Two research aircraft will fly [on Wednesday] to record ash size distributions to assess how near to the new tolerance concentrations actually are, which will also be compared to previous days."

Open air

The CAA has opened airspace where the concentration of ash in the air is below this new threshold.

So does this mean the ban was ever necessary? Was the ash cloud ever sufficiently dense to prevent safe flight?

The answer to this is still unclear, but Dr Allen said that early analyses of the research flight data suggested that the plume that had been measured over the past four days contained only 0.0004g of ash per cubic metre at its peak.

But the regulations before this event were set out by an international body called the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). It set a limit of "no tolerance" for any concentration of volcanic ash.

Dr Colin Brown, director of engineering at the UK's Institution of Mechanical Engineers, explained that previously, scientists were not able to detect ash at the very low concentrations that modern analytical equipment is capable of measuring. So the advice was to avoid it all together.

"Previous to this, the regulations were, if you see ash, you fly 100 miles away from it," he told BBC News.

"But now we have this blanket over the biggest airports in northern Europe. It's an unprecedented situation."

So over the past six days, the Natural Environment Research Council (Nerc) has run four test flights with its Dornier 228 research aircraft, to sample different layers of the plume.

The UK's Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements also carried out a research flight on Tuesday. Each of these flights carried analytical instruments to detect particles of ash in the cloud, much of which is not visible to the naked eye.more on

The ash cloud produced by the eruption of a sub-glacial volcano in Iceland has brought chaos to the European air industry. Here we explain how and why the crisis developed.

How a volcano brought Europe to a standstill

Iceland is a country of fire and ice, home to several volcanoes and straddling two tectonic plates. The Eyjafjallajokull volcano began erupting in March. On 14 April, the eruption entered a new explosive phase which was to bring European airspace to a standstill.

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