A KLM plane flew from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to Paris on Monday morning. The Boeing 737 flight, which was not carrying passengers, was to demonstrate “that it is possible” said a KLM spokesperson. Other airlines share the criticism of the closure of European airspace. But there are advantages too.

KLM is not the only airline to hold test flights. Lufthansa and Air France have also done so. Slowly but surely, it looks like the resumption of flights could be getting closer.

Air traffic in Europe is still being seriously disrupted by the ash clouds from Iceland’s Eyjafjallafjökull volcano. The volcanic activity does not appear to be subsiding and experts have already warned that the mountain could continue spewing large amounts of volcanic ash particles for some time.

Iceland
The main hope is that the weather will change. The main air currents have been travelling from Iceland almost directly to the British Isles and mainland Europe for several days, towards the south east. If the wind turns to the north or north east the worst problems will be over; then the cloud will drift to above the Atlantic Ocean.

The Dutch KNMI weather agency is not issuing information on the movement of the ash cloud, because the situation changes from hour to hour. According to a spokesperson long-term predictions “can’t be verified”.

Amsterdam stock exchange
Meanwhile around 70,000 flights have been cancelled, and the airlines are losing billions of euros. Shortly after the Amsterdam stock exchange opened, shares in Air France-KLM took a nose dive; falling four percent. And Schiphol airport is estimated to be losing 2 to 3 million euros a day.

A number of airports in southern Europe have remained open as the ash cloud has not reached this far and is now moving slowly to the east. Bulgarian airspace has closed and, in the Czech Republic, planes are being kept on the ground until further notice.

Criticism from airlines is increasing. In the Netherlands, Germany and France several test flights have been carried out without any problems. It is just a matter of density, where there are few particles of volcanic ash in the atmosphere, there is no damage to the engines. Apparently, this is the situation in the atmosphere above these countries.

The International Air Transport Association IATA is also critical. It thinks European countries are not acting professionally. There has been “no risk analysis, no discussion, no coordination and no leadership” , says IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani. He wants European airspace to be opened step by step as it is shown to be safe.

Positive
The ash cloud has also had a positive effect. Noise around Schiphol Airport has reduced dramatically. The chairperson of a lobby group for local residents, Erwin van der Meer, says, "It is like a car free Sunday in a big city, it’s just unreal. I can actually hear the birds singing again."

And there have been magnificent red sunsets over the last few days, due to an optical effect of the sinking sun on the particles of ash.

No pollution
Air pollution by airplanes has come to an abrupt end; everyone can see it by the total lack of white stripes across the skies.

And it is heart warming to see, how local residents have turned out to help stranded passengers. Most of them have been found somewhere to stay now.