IATA BLASTS EUROPE’S HANDLING OF VOLCANIC ASH CRISIS

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Bernama) -- The International Air Transport
Association (IATA) has called on European governments and air navigation service
providers to urgently develop more precise procedures to identify ash
contaminated air space and allow more flights.

The call came in the wake of 1,000 flight cancellations on Monday 2010 as a
result of the continued volcanic eruptions in Iceland.

"This problem is not going away any time soon. The current European-wide
system to decide on airspace closures is not working," said IATA
Director-General and Chief Executive Officers Giovanni Bisignani in a statement
Tuesday.

"We welcome the operational refinements made by the Volcanic Ash Advisory
Centre (VAAC) in their theoretical model but we are still basically relying on
one-dimensional information to make decisions on a four-dimensional problem.

"The result is the unnecessary closure of airspace," he said.

He said France had been able to safely keep its airspace open by enhancing
the VAAC data with operational expertise to more precisely determine safe fly
zones.

Today, the UK Civil Aviation, working with the UK NATS (the air navigation
service provider), announced another step forward by working with airlines and
manufacturers to more accurately define tolerance levels while taking into
account special operational procedures.

"Both are examples for other European governments to follow,” Bisignani
said. He called for more robust data collection and analysis, a change in the
decision making process and urgency in addressing the issues.

He said numbers showed that the current system was flawed.

"Over 200,000 flights have operated in European airspace identified by the
VAAC as having the potential presence of ash. Not one aircraft has reported
significant ash presence and this is verified by post-flight aircraft and engine
inspections.

"We must back the theory with facts gathered by aircraft to test ash
concentration. France and the UK are showing that this is possible. If European
civil aviation does not have the resources, it should look to borrow the test
aircraft from other countries or military sources," he said.

-- BERNAMA




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