Training | 2010.04.19
Iceland volcano: Naval ships sent to rescue stranded Britons
Aircraft carrier and assault ships deployed to boost cross-Channel options for travellers hit by ash cloud flight ban
Three Royal Navy ships are on their way to help repatriate up to 200,000 Britons stranded by five days of flight restrictions following the Icelandic volcano eruption.
The aircraft carrier Ark Royal and the assault ships Ocean and Albion have been deployed to help increase cross-Channel options as the no-flight ban across Britain was extended until 1am tomorrow.
Extra capacity is being provided on coaches, ferries and Eurostar and Eurotunnel trains.
Gordon Brown said agreement could be reached within hours for Spain to act as a hub for travellers trying to get home from Africa, Asia and northern and southern Africa. Madrid and other airports are expected to be used.
In a separate development, Nato planes were said to have been damaged by volcano debris. Speaking after a meeting of the UK emergency committee Cobra in Downing Street, the prime minister said safety remained "of paramount concern".
He said ministers would look at financial help for airlines and associated companies hit by the flight restrictions placed across much of Europe.
"We are very conscious this is unexpected and unique," said Brown, who praised the "spirit and resilience of the British people".
"I believe this is one of the most serious transport disruptions we have faced. 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."
The disruption was "a European-wide problem" that would need a European-wide solution, Brown said, and money from the European solidarity fund could hopefully be used to help travellers and airlines.
British Airways has said the disruption is costing the company up to £20m a day, while TUI Travel, the company behind Thomson and First Choice, said it was losing up to £6m daily. Ocean, a 20,000-tonne assault vessel and helicopter carrier, has been sent up the Channel from Devonport. Albion is on the way to Santander, Spain, to pick up troops returning from Afghanistan via Cyprus and is expected to help civilians too. Ark Royal, whose own Harrier jets have been hit by flight restrictions, has been sent south from the north of Scotland.
The Foreign Office has said it will not discuss Spain\'s role until decisions have been made and plans put in place. However, Spain\'s infrastructure minister José Blanco said up to 100,000 people might be helped.
UK air traffic controllers this morning dashed any hopes of aircraft finding a window today in the volcanic ash cloud drifting from Iceland. The international airlines body Iata described the European response to the emergency as an "embarrassment and mess".
A number of airlines, including British Airways, ran test flights without passengers in Europe over the weekend, with more planned today. They have reported no "irregularities". However, Nato F-16 jets were reportedly damaged by volcanic debris, although details remain sketchy. A senior western diplomat told the Associated Press agency that several F-16 fighters suffered engine damage after flying through the volcanic ash cloud, saying glass-like deposits were found inside the planes\' engines after patrols over European airspace.
"Allied F-16s were flying and they did find glass build-up," one official told Reuters, without saying when the flight took place. "It was one plane. This is a very, very serious matter that, in the not too distant future, will start having real impact on military capabilities ... if the volcanic ashes ... issue doesn\'t disappear."
The official would only say that the incident took place in Europe and that the ash cloud had already led to the scaling down of some US military exercises. "They can fly but it is dangerous," he said.
The RAF does not have any F-16s but last week two Finnish F-18 fighter-bombers suffered similar damage while flying through the ash plume. Both landed safely.
Asked how the plume was affecting Nato operations and supply routes to Afghanistan at a routine press conference today, the Nato secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said: "We never go into operational specifics. I can assure you … what you ask does not have a negative impact on our operations and territorial defence. "Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, said the rule that commercial planes could not fly through ash was under review.
"The problem we face is that this is a highly dynamic situation and we have to assess the forecasts there are," he told BBC Radio 4\'s Today programme. "The current rule we have, which flows from the manufacturers\' own guidance, is – any ash, don\'t fly."
Asked if the rule could be amended, he said: "It is possible, but this depends upon discussions which are currently taking place as we speak. This depends on discussions with manufacturers."
Adonis\'s colleagues said he was in "hourly contact" with airlines and in regular touch with European counterparts who would hold a video conference today to review data from the test flights.
"There is a proper risk and safety regime," he said. "The issue is whether it is appropriate in current circumstances in the light of the findings of the test flights and the observational data." He stressed that for those stranded abroad, European Union airlines were responsible for providing food and accommodation.
The Conservative leader, David Cameron, said: "I think it is right to get the Royal Navy involved. Theresa Villiers, my transport spokeswoman, suggested it and I am delighted the government have taken up the suggestion.
"The pre-eminent thing is passenger safety and I think they are right to carry out test flights and to be very careful before lifting the embargo on planes being able to fly. This is obviously a very difficult time, huge disruption for families, many people with children who need to get back to schools, families desperate to get home."
Iata\'s director general, Giovanni Bisignani, said in an official statement: "We are far enough into this crisis to express our dissatisfaction on how governments have managed it ‑ with no risk assessment, no consultation, no co-ordination and no leadership. This crisis is costing airlines at least $200m a day in lost revenues and the European economy is suffering billions of dollars in lost business.
"In the face of such dire economic consequences it is incredible that Europe\'s transport ministers have taken five days to organise a teleconference."
Iata criticised the fact that airspace was being closed based on theoretical modelling of the ash cloud. "This means that governments have not taken their responsibility to make clear decisions based on facts," Bisignani said. "Instead it has been the air navigation service providers who announced that they would not provide service. And these decisions have been taken without adequately consulting the airlines." Bisignani said airlines would not fly if it was unsafe but they had reported missed opportunities to fly safely. "The European system results in blanket closures of airspace. I challenge governments to agree on ways to flexibly reopen airspace. Risk assessments should be able to help us reopen certain corridors, if not entire airspaces."
The UK National Air Traffic Service (Nats) has extended the no-flight ban across Britain until at least 1am tomorrow, saying the movement of the ash cloud remains "dynamic".
Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental air safety body covering 38 European countries, said it expected up to 9,000 flights to take place today instead of the 28,000 on a normal Monday. However, the number flying includes countries as far east as Turkey and Armenia, well outside the ash cloud\'s reach at present.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr[...]and-volcano-naval-ships-rescue
