歐盟交通部長們一致同意自20日上午起，逐步取消飛航管制，而不等待冰島火山產生的飛灰完全消散。自從艾雅法拉(Eyjafjallajokull)火山上週開始噴發以來，火山飛灰噴發至高達數公里的大氣中，使整個北歐的航空交通陷入停擺。
在保證安全的前提之下，協議將以「漸進並協調」的方式重新開放歐洲空域，生效時間為格林威治時間20日的上午六點。
「這對歐洲的滯留旅客是個好消息，對航空業以及其他在經濟上受到此次危機所打擊的行業來說也是好消息，」歐盟交通專員卡拉斯(Siim Kallas)說。「我們不會對安全方面妥協。所有的決定都必須根據科學證據以及專家的分析。」
在火山噴發的五天後，數千架飛機仍然停飛，使得數以百萬計的旅客被滯留在世界各地。航空業的損失已遽增至超過10億美元，歐洲航空公司正努力設法安全地恢復航班。
火山的噴發在19日稍早時已比上週末減弱，不過後來的噴發又開始加劇。根據冰島氣象局的報告，火山飛灰已經被噴發至高達5公里的大氣之中。
歐洲飛航安全組織(Eurocontrol)表示，星期一歐洲大約只有8千至9千架次的航班飛航，只有平常歐陸28000航班架次的三分之一不到。
火山灰對噴射機有害，航空運輸部門會持續監測全球的大氣狀態，持續提供飛行員警示資訊。
火山灰雲中的細小玻璃會侵蝕飛機的發動機，並且在高溫高壓下溶解，導致發動機故障熄火。過去30年間，有超過90架商用機遇到火山飛灰而導致損壞。
西班牙公共工程部長布蘭科(Jose Blanco)說，歐盟27國同意歐洲飛航安全組織依照火山飛灰的分布狀況，將歐洲空域劃分成3個區域，並且最遲在西班牙時間20日上午8時前，開放未受火山影響的區域飛航。
不同的飛航區的劃分依據，將依照接下去幾個小時內，使用現有技術於週日和週一的試飛結果報告而定，同時也將參考歐洲飛航安全組織與火山研究所的報告。
根據英航與法航成功的試飛結果顯示，已經可以將過去五天所劃定的安全飛航區擴大。
「目前的情況十分急迫，全世界有數百萬民旅客滯留各地，」古爾榮(Gourgeon)說，「過去幾天已經有超過60000次歐洲航班被取消。歐洲的航空運輸業已經到了完全癱瘓的地步，連續五天，每天損失1.5億歐元。」
歐洲飛航安全組織預期，歐洲空域週二的航班量將會逐漸恢復，由現在的三成恢復到四至四成五的水準。
航空公司也要求金融輔助方案，以減輕此天災造成的衝擊。英航執行長沃許(Willie Walsh)說：「為了在這種情況下得到協助，歐洲航空公司已經向歐盟和各國政府提出財務補助要求，以彌補關閉空域造成的損失。美國當初因為911恐怖攻擊事件關閉領空時，已經有了補償的先例，現在局勢很明顯，是更適合考慮進行補償。」
至於對航空公司可能的財務補償，他證實歐洲各國財政部長會議中，唯一的考量是處理民眾的流動性。
他解釋說，歐盟主席巴羅佐(Jose Manuel Durao Barroso)已經成立了一個工作委員會，以評估這次危機所產生的後續效應。
主席巴羅佐說：「火山灰帶來了一個前所未有的局面。我已要求副主席卡拉斯協調議會成員的反應，並且完整評估火山灰對經濟，特別是對航空業所造成的衝擊。」
EU transport ministers agreed to gradually lift flight restrictions beginning Tuesday morning without waiting for the cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland to disperse completely. Air traffic has ground to a halt across northern Europe since the Eyjafjallajokull volcano last week began belching a cloud of ash kilometers into the atmosphere.
The agreement for a "progressive and coordinated" reopening of European airspace with full guarantees of safety will go into force at 0600 GMT on Tuesday.
"This is good news for Europe's stranded passengers, and good news for the airline industry and other sectors of the economy hard hit by this crisis," Kallas said. "There will be no compromise on safety. All the decisions must be based on scientific evidence and expert analysis."
Five days after the eruption of volcano began, thousands of planes are still grounded and millions of passengers are still stranded around the world. Airline losses have skyrocketed to over US$1 billion, and airlines across Europe have been desperately seeking ways to start flying again safely.
Eruptions from the volcano were somewhat weaker early today than they were on the weekend but later in the day, the volcano's eruptions intensified. The volcano now is sending an ash plume up to five kilometers (three miles) into the atmosphere, according to the Icelandic Met Office.
Eurocontrol, the EU air traffic agency, said fewer than one-third of flights in Europe took off Monday - between 8,000 and 9,000 of the continent's 28,000 scheduled flights.
Volcanic clouds are so hazardous to jet planes that air transport authorities monitor the entire atmosphere around the planet on a continuous basis to provide warnings to pilots.
Fine bits of glass in the ash cloud can erode parts of a jet engine and melt under the extreme pressure and heat, leading to engine stalls and flame-outs. In the past 30 years, more than 90 commercial jets have encountered clouds of volcanic ash and suffered damage as a result.
The Spanish Minister of Public Works, Jose Blanco, said that the EU-27 agreed with Eurocontrol to divide the airspace into three zones based on their volcanic ash content, and to allow air operations in the area unaffected by the cloud "by 08.00 Spanish time tomorrow morning, at the latest."
The classification of each of these three zones will be defined over the next few hours using the existing technical reports from the test flights carried out on Sunday and Monday as well as using reports from Eurocontrol and the Vulcanological Institute.
Successful test flights by British Airways and Air France indicate that it might be possible to fly safely over a wider area than has been open to air traffic for the past five days.
"The situation is now extremely urgent. Millions of passengers are stranded all over the world," said Gourgeon. In the past few days, more than 60,000 flights have been cancelled in Europe. The European air transport industry, which has come to a complete standstill, is losing 150 million euros per day and today is the fifth day."
Eurocontrol expects 40-45 percent of flights in European airspace on Tuesday to go ahead, compared to 30 percent today.
The airlines are asking for financial help to ease the impact of this natural disaster. Walsh said, "To assist us with this situation, European airlines have asked the EU and national governments for financial compensation for the closure of airspace. There is a precedent for this to happen as compensation was paid after the closure of U.S. airspace following the terrorist events of 9/11 and clearly the impact of the current situation is more considerable."
In relation to potential financial compensation for airlines, he confirmed that the only objective of the meeting of European ministers was to deal with citizens' mobility.
He explained that the President of the EU, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, had already created a working committee to assess the consequences of this crisis.
President Barroso said, "The volcanic ash cloud has created an unprecedented situation. I have asked Vice-President Kallas to coordinate the Commission's response and fully assess the impact of the situation created by volcanic ash cloud on the economy, and the air travel industry in particular."
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