European Commission proposes aid for air industry hit by volcanic ash fallout

European Commission proposes aid for air industry hit by volcanic ash fallout

The European Union has proposed a series of measures to help the region's ailing airline industry, hard hit by last week's volcanic ash cloud that paralyzed air transport in Europe. European Union Transportation Commissioner Siim Kallas says the crippling effects of the volcanic ash cloud cost European airlines as much as $3.3 billion.  The cloud caused hundreds of flights to be canceled, stranding thousands of passengers all over the world.At a press conference in Brussels, Kallas outlined a series of proposed measures by the European Commission to help offset the heavy costs incurred by Europe's airline industry, including allowing governments to waive restrictions on night flights and defer charges airlines pay to air-traffic controllers. "The Commission considered that exceptional circumstances of recent days may justify support measures to offset losses incurred.  Any support granted by member states must respect a level playing field," Kallas said.Mr. Kallas also called for European crisis planning to help ease transportation bottlenecks by allowing another type of transport to replace one hard hit during times of crisis.  And he said it is critical to fast track what is known as the "single sky" system - an effort to put the hodgepodge of European airspaces under one control. "Stronger European coordination will not solve every problem.  But faced with such a pan-European crisis, it would have enabled a much more agile response," Kallas said.

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this
Cookies Preferences
Choose Type of Cookies You Accept Using


These cookies are required for the website to run and cannot be switched off. Such cookie are only set in response to actions made by you such as language, currency, login session, privacy preferences. You can set your browser to block these cookies but our site may not work then.


These cookies allow us to measure visitors traffic and see traffic sources by collecting information in data sets. They also help us understand which products and actions are more popular than others.


These cookies are usually set by our marketing and advertising partners. They may be used by them to build a profile of your interest and later show you relevant ads. If you do not allow these cookies you will not experience targeted ads for your interests.