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The two men spoke at a meeting of Eurocontrol, which oversees air safety operations in the region.

A spokeswoman for KLM — one of the airlines that conducted test flights — told CNN the flights show European air space is safe with the exception of Iceland.

European transport ministers plan to discuss the results of flight tests at a technical meeting Monday.

The British government said Sunday that British air space will be closed for at least another 24 hours.
Britain is considering whether to draft the Royal Navy to help people stranded by the travel crisis, officials said.

Across Europe on Sunday, a handful of planes making test flights took off into skies dusted with volcanic ash, tasked with a single mission: determining whether passenger flights can safely resume.

“I wish to establish, as a matter of urgency, whether some safe flight paths can be identified and opened up to flights,” said British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis.

Noting that other European nations were conducting similar test flights, Adonis said, “Urgent discussions are taking place with European and international regulatory agencies. We want to be able to resume flights as soon as possible, but safety remains my paramount concern.”

Millions of people have been affected by the biggest aviation disruption of recent years — some officials call it worse than after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.
After a test flight Saturday evening, inspections “revealed that the flight had encountered no problems whatsoever,” KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced. Dutch transport authorities then allowed KLM to conduct nine more test flights.

British Airways announced it was operating a test flight Sunday as well. A 747 aircraft would fly for a few hours with a crew of five on board.

The French Aviation Authority said it was conducting evaluation flights as well, with results expected Sunday night.

Some European airports reopened Sunday, including several in France and Germany, and all 16 that had been closed in Spain. But officials in each country emphasized that decisions were being made around the clock and could change at any time. Airports in much of the continent remained closed, with passengers unable to fly anywhere — and many hotels quickly running out of rooms.

Since the eruption beneath southern Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull glacier worsened last week, prompting local evacuations and affecting European air space, airlines have been losing at least $200 million a day, according to the International Air Transport Association, the trade group representing airlines. That could mean airlines worldwide have lost about a billion dollars as of Sunday.

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Duration : 0:7:49

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Air traffic over much of Europe came to a halt for six days in April because of the huge cloud of ash from a volcano in Iceland. The economic costs added up as airlines flew everyone to where they were trying to go. At its worst, the crisis affected nearly a third of world air travel. About one hundred thousand flights were cancelled or delayed. The International Air Transport Association estimated the cost to airlines at nearly two billion dollars. But that does not include costs like the tons of flowers that growers in Kenya and Israel had to destroy. Or all the fruits and vegetables that could also not be flown to Europe. Other businesses that depend on air travel, including hotels and vacation places, also suffered. The crisis affected airports from Washington to Pakistan. The crisis came just as Europe is trying to recover from its worst recession in generations. Greece — a popular travel place — continues to face a debt crisis that has sharply raised its borrowing costs. The United States halted air travel for three days after the terrorist attacks in two thousand one. The travel ban in April lasted twice as long in some European countries. Critics accused European air transport officials of being slow to react, then overreacting to the possible risk to airplanes. The volcano eruption cost time and money for travelers. Hundreds of thousands were stuck. Some had no place to stay except the airport. Others tried to make their way by train, bus, boat or car. Vacationers had to change or cancel plans. And not all businesses were sympathetic. An American stuck in London, already one of the world’s highest priced cities, found that her hotel had doubled its prices. Some embassies offered emergency loans to their citizens. Passengers delayed on European airlines may be able to get back at least some of the money they had to spend. The crisis brought new attention to the billion-dollar market for travel insurance. About thirty percent of Americans buy policies to cover unexpected problems when they travel. Some credit cards offer a form of insurance and could also face claims. The volcanic eruption was the second time in two years that Iceland has shaken its neighbors to the east. The first time was the near-collapse of Iceland’s banks and currency during the world financial crisis. And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report.

(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 23Apr2010)

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This episode deals with the short combat career of the pocket battleship the “Graf Spee” before she was engaged by the Royal Navy and eventually scuttled by her crew off the coast of Montevideo. I’m not really sure what the Graf Spee has to do with the war in Europe, but who am I to argue with Mr. Cronkite?

The video’s a little sketchy for this first part, but that’s what you get for watching a documentary stored on 25 year old video cassettes.

My collection of this series is all on Beta tapes apparently once purchased by my parents.

Duration : 0:8:58

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Includes: maps of Africa, Asia, Europe

Duration : 0:6:39

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