UK sends in navy to help ash cloud crisis

London, England — The UK is sending Royal Navy vessels to bring home travelers stranded by the ash cloud disruption, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday.

The HMS Ark Royal and HMS Ocean were making their way back to British waters, while the Defense Ministry worked to pinpoint locations that most need help.

Transport across Europe has been crippled since the eruption beneath southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull glacier worsened last week, prompting local evacuations and shutting European airspace.

With planes languishing at airports, stranded travelers have crammed onto boats and trains and hired cars in a bid to reach their destination.

“I believe this is one of the most serious transport disruptions we have faced,” Brown said. “It’s got financial consequences as well as human consequences and we will do everything in our power to make sure all the arrangements are in place to help people where possible to get back home.”

Brown said that he had spoken to Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero about using airports in Spain — which have been less affected by the air travel chaos — as a hub through which to bring people back to Britain, the agency reported. Further information would be released later today, Brown added.

Brown added that a third Royal Navy vessel, HMS Albion, en route to pick up troops in Spain, may also be able to assist.

UK travel has been badly hit by the ash cloud, with airspace largely shut since last Thursday morning and not expected to open until 0000 GMT Tuesday at the earliest. Heathrow, to the west of London, is one of the world’s major international airports and has seen no activity the past five days.

Some European airports reopened Sunday, including several in France and Germany, and all 16 that had been closed in Spain. But officials in each country emphasized that decisions were being made around the clock and could change at any time.

A few dozen test flights Sunday offered hope that the skies over much of Europe may be safe for air travel, but officials made no promises that the massive disruptions due to volcanic ash are about to go away.

“The results coming from these flights is… there’s no impact in the area,” European Union Secretary of State Diego Lopez Garrido said.

Two key air travel groups issued a joint statement Sunday pushing authorities to ease flying restrictions. Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, which represents airports, and the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said they question “the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed.”

But an expert who has flown into the skies to check conditions said he believes it will be “a few days yet” before it’s safe to fly.

European transport ministers plan to discuss the results of flight tests at a technical meeting Monday.

British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said Sunday that officials were working around the clock to establish whether safe flight paths could be identified.

“Urgent discussions are taking place with European and international regulatory agencies. We want to be able to resume flights as soon as possible, but safety remains my paramount concern,” Adonis said.

Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, said airports have lost close to €136 million ($184 million) so far. More than 6.8 million passengers have been affected, he said in a statement, adding that the effect is worse than after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

“While safety remains a non-negotiable priority, it is not incompatible with our legitimate request to reconsider the present restrictions,” he said.

“While Europe’s airlines and airports consider safety to be an absolute priority, they are questioning the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed,” ACI Europe and the AEA said in their joint statement. “The eruption of the Icelandic volcano is not an unprecedented event and the procedures applied in other parts of the world for volcanic eruptions do not appear to require the kind of restrictions that are presently being imposed in Europe.”

Airlines have been losing at least $200 million a day, according to the International Air Transport Association, the trade group representing airlines.

But an expert who has flown over Europe to check the air said he saw “dangerous” conditions.

Guy Gratton, head of the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements at Britain’s Cranfield University, flew into the skies Thursday and saw “a really strange and complex set of layers of ash,” with a layer of perfectly clear air suddenly giving way to a layer of ash, he told CNN. If particles of ash enter a jet engine, when they come out they can solidify on turbine blades, he said.

A group of his colleagues took to the skies Sunday, and in some places saw “quite high concentrations of ash,” he said.

“I suspect it’s going to be a few days yet” before it’s safe to fly, Gratton added.

Some European airports reopened Sunday, including several in France and Germany, and all 16 that had been closed in Spain. But officials in each country emphasized that decisions were being made around the clock and could change at any time.

Tags: Ash Cloud, Europe, World