CANSO announces 3.5% drop in global air traffic, impact of the volcanic ash cloud
28-May-2010 CANSO, the Global Voice of Air Traffic Management, has announced that the closure of European airspace in response to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud contributed to a 3.5% drop in global air traffic during April.
CANSO Director General Graham Lake said:
"The unprecedented six day closure of European airspace struck a devastating and untimely blow to the aviation industry, which was only just beginning to recover from the economic recession.
Globally, the ATM sector lost up to 25 million Euros per day during the height of the crisis. As a result, many CANSO Members, which are fixed-infrastructure businesses operating in a difficult cost-recovery system, are facing significant financial challenges, and may need to cut costs to recover losses."
"However," Mr. Lake continued, "the crisis has also refocused efforts to create a truly safe and efficient European airspace. CANSO has welcomed measures to improve European coordination and push forward with the implementation of the Single European Sky. Our Members recognise that they have a key role to play and to this end, CANSO's European Coordination Meeting (CECM) held a special session on 18 May to discuss lessons, recommendations and future action. Furthermore, the world's ATM leaders will have the opportunity to debate the response to the ash cloud crisis and discuss future crises at our Global ATM Summit in June."