Europe's skies reopen

Airlines press for compensation as Europe's skies reopen

As Europe's airspace reopened and weary passengers boarded long-delayed flights home, airline executives pressed for government compensation to cover the industry's massive losses.

Eurocontrol, Europe's air safety authority, said they expected air traffic to be "almost 100 percent" on Thursday, estimating that 75 percent of the 28,000 flights normally scheduled Wednesday had flown.

All Europe's main air hubs were up and running Wednesday and experts in Iceland said the Eyjafjjoell volcano had lost most of its intensity.

But a week after a volcanic eruption in Iceland caused the worst disruption to aviation since World War II, airline bosses were counting their losses -- and wanted to know who would foot the bill.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) put the overall cost to the airline industry at 1.7 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros): at its peak, said IATA, the crisis was costing 400 million dollars a day.

"For an industry that lost 9.4 billion dollars last year and was forecast to lose a further 2.8 billion dollars in 2010, this crisis is devastating," said IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani in Berlin.

"Airspace was being closed based on theoretical models, not on facts."

Now governments needed to look at how to compensate the airlines, he said.

"I am the first one to say that this industry does not want or need bailouts. But this crisis is not the result of running our business badly."

An extraordinary situation had been exacerbated by "poor decision-making" from the governments," he argued.

"Governments should help carriers recover the cost of this disruption."

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh had already branded the ban unnecessary, and British opposition leader David Cameron called for a public inquiry into the government's handling of the crisis.

Conservative leader Cameron, who is locked in an election battle with Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown, said there had been "muddle and confusion" in the government over the crisis.

-News courtesy of Channel Newsasia-