Air travel resumes slowly over Europe

Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air Lines and other Asian carriers resumed flights to European cities. Qantas Airways said it will resume flights today

Air travel over Europe gradually started returning to normal but the volcanic ash emanating from Iceland may linger on until Friday. Also, a new ash cloud spreading south from the erupting volcano in Iceland threatened to undermine the efforts to ease six days of severe air traffic restrictions. Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Korean Air Lines and other Asian carriers resumed flights to European cities, including London, Frankfurt and Paris today. Qantas Airways said that it will resume European flights today. UK regulators re-opened most of the nation’s airspace late on Tuesday, following similar moves by officials across Europe. The British Civil Aviation Authority opened the airspace at 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, according to a statement posted on Heathrow Airport's Web site. "We are ready to open, but until further notice passengers must contact their airline before travelling to the airport," the statement said. But, the airport warned that not all flights will be operating in the early stage of the opening. Airspace restrictions began easing at 9:34 p.m. yesterday, Britain’s National Air Traffic Services Ltd. (NATS) said. Earlier, Europe’s air-traffic controllers had been unable to agree on whether it was safe to fly through the Icelandic ash cloud. It may take weeks for carriers to clear the backlogs of stranded passengers following the April 14 eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Ash drifting over Europe forced the cancellation of about 90,000 flights. The Eyjafjallajokull eruption began on March 20. After a lull, it resumed early on April 14 directly under the glacier that covers most of the mountain. The previous eruption of the 1,666-meter peak in December 1821 continued until January 1823. "Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas," the UK's Civil Aviation Authority said. That allows a phased reintroduction of flights in airspace that had been closed due to the volcanic dust, the safety regulator said in a statement. Airlines must conduct their own risk-assessment tests, develop operational procedures to address any remaining risks, add intensive inspections for ash damage before and after each flight, and report any ash-related incidents, the CAA said. The CAA said it will continue to run ash tests from the air and on the ground. British Airways plans to operate all of its long-haul flights from Heathrow and Gatwick today, according to a statement on its Web site. "As we have many aircraft and crew out of position, it will still take some considerable time before we can restore our full flying programme," the carrier said. Virgin Atlantic Airways plans to operate a number of flights to the U.K. starting over the next 24 hours. BMI, a UK airline owned by Deutsche Lufthansa AG, and EasyJet Plc said they planned to restart service today.