EU Says Volcanic Ash Not Expected to Close Airspace

The European Union's transport chief said Tuesday he did not expect the Icelandic volcano ash cloud to provoke a widespread closure of European airspace like a similar event last year.

Although airlines cancelled more than 250 flights as the cloud blew over Britain, Siim Kallas noted that this time the volcano, weather and European response are different than in April 2010, when an eruption caused chaos.

"We are still looking at a very challenging week for passengers and for the airlines," the EU transport commissioner told a news conference, stressing that volcanic ash can still pose a safety risk to aviation.

"Although we are partly dependent on the weather and the pattern of ash dispersion, we do not at this stage anticipate the widespread airspace closures and the prolonged disruption we saw last year," he said.

So far the flight cancellations were decided by individual airlines, he said.

While the final decision to close the airspace remains in the hands of national, "we don't see this decision very near," Kallas said.

He added that Europe has learned its lesson and is now better prepared to "avoid blanket closure" of the airspace.

A European aviation crisis cell, comprising of the European Commission, EU states, airlines, air ports and the Eurocontrol air traffic control agency was activated after the Grimsvoetn volcano erupted at the weekend.

A system of high or low risk zones was also created last year, with a red zone of four grammes of ash per cubic meter.

"It's airlines who then assess if they go into these zones," Kallas said.

Last year, the plume from a different Icelandic volcano landed first in Scotland before spreading quickly across Britain and Ireland, then drifting across most of Europe.

The biggest shutdown of airspace in the post-war era left many airlines -- and millions of stranded passengers -- deeply unhappy over halting flights.