European officials are expressing optimism that more flights could be in the air over the continent Monday, after volcanic ash from Iceland forced five consecutive days of widespread cancellations.
EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said it's possible that almost 50 per cent of flights in Europe could operate on Monday.
The current situation is "not sustainable," Kallas told reporters at a briefing held Sunday in Brussels by the European air traffic authority, Eurocontrol.
More than three quarters of flights in European airspace have been grounded over fears the cloud of ash could stall aircraft engines, and the disruption has left millions of passsengers stranded in northern and central Europe and overseas.
Diego Lopez Garrido, Spain's secretary of state for European Union affairs, said EU transport ministers will meet on Monday to "take into account technical advice" including results of newly conducted test flights.
Dutch airline KLM said it safely flew aircraft without passengers through a window in the cloud of volcanic ash over Europe Sunday, and pressed for an end to the total ban on commercial air traffic.
Other airlines including Lufthansa and Air France said they, too, were conducting test flights. Authorities, however, extended airspace restrictions across Europe and said there was no end in sight to the ash plume.
KLM said the planes, of various types in its fleet, flew at normal altitude above 10,000 feet but did not encounter the thick cloud that had hovered over the continent since Wednesday, apparently indicating that the Icelandic dust had thinned or dispersed.
A KLM spokeswoman said four aircraft completed a short flight from Duesseldorf in western Germany without incident and four more planes were due to return to their home base at Schiphol Airport.
The airline received permission from Dutch and European aviation authorities before sending the planes aloft. Engineers immediately took the aircraft for inspection as they landed.
From CBC News
