Euro transport ministers agree on safety direction

Speaking after an extraordinary meeting of transport ministers on Monday 19 April, Vice President Siim Kallas stated that it was unanimously agreed that safety would be the key principle for decision making.

According to the Minister, “there can be no compromise on safety. All decisions must be based on scientific evidence and expert analysis”. While media attention focused mainly on passenger disruption little mention was made of the issue of disruption to commercial transport. Consumers are being affected due to imports of fresh fruit and vegetables being grounded, according to the Freight Transport Association.

Christopher Snelling, FTA’s Head of Global Supply Chain Policy, said: “With imports of some fruit and vegetables grounded, certain fresh produce, such as exotic fruits and fresh flowers, are starting to become noticeable by their absence from our supermarket shelves. Even if British airspace opened up immediately, it would take a fortnight to clear the backlog of air freight destined for the UK, so we already face an unprecedented logistical challenge. Of course, for fresh produce, this could simply be too long a wait and some will simply have to be destroyed.”

While the transport industry have expressed their concerns over the shutdown to air transport experts from 38 Members of Eurocontrol, transport ministers have agreed to intensify European co-ordination and risk assessment of airspace management. New air control measures came into effect from 0800 CET Tuesday morning. From Wednesday morning it is anticipated that there will be an increase in air traffic. 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.

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