Euro air drill April 13 to simulate Icelandic volcano disaster

EUROCONTROL, the intergovernmental aviation safety board, will conduct a two-day drill April 13 - 14 to simulate Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcanic eruption last year that shut down European airspace.


Two hundred airlines, aviation authorities and meteorological bodies will take part, involving new computer models and data sharing procedures under the supervision of Eurocontrol, representing 39 member states, reports London's Financial Times.


Last year's disaster shut down 75 per cent of European airspace and affected 100,000 flights and 10 million passengers, delaying air cargo and road and rail services causing massive congestion.


Costs of the volcanic ash cloud are estimated at EUR2 billion (US$2.8 billion). Eurozone economies were also hurt with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimating EUR1.7 billion losses in tourist revenue alone.


By accurately projecting the movement of volcanic ash, authorities believe they would be able to keep a more airspace open.


"If there were another volcanic ash cloud tomorrow, not all the airspace would be closed. Last time, we put safety first. Now we know more about what we can do; we can do more detailed risk assessments," said Joe Sultana, chief operating officer of network management at Eurocontrol.


The International Air Transport Association (IATA), representing 230 major airlines, said: "What you had was different aviation authorities taking decisions on an hour-by-hour basis, without effective co-ordination."


IATA also said an EU unified "European sky" would help put airspace under one authority instead of each country deciding for itself. "If they can introduce a single currency, why can't introduce a single European sky?" said IATA spokesman Chris Goater.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)