Vital talks between Greek officials, the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank were put off due to the havoc wreaked by Eyjafjallajokul — the difficult-to-pronounce Icelandic volcano — that spread south to Athens on Monday.
The talks were scheduled following the announcement last week of the details of a rescue package for Greece’s debt-saddled economy to the tune of ¤45 billion in combined EU-IMF funds. Monday’s talks were expected to be the first step in a possible activation of the aid mechanism.
The continent-wide disruptions to air traffic due to the ash cloud emitted by the volcano have however thrown a spanner in the proceedings, with the talks now postponed to Wednesday. With no clarity regarding the reopening of airspace, the EU team will travel more than 2,000 km from Brussels to Athens by car.
The Greek talks are only one in a long list of volcano-related casualties that have left Europe reeling. Sunday’s funeral for Polish President Kaczynski and other top officials who died in a plane crash in western Russia, saw many world leaders including US President Barack Obama and the UK’s Prince Charles unable to attend. Routine diplomacy has also been disrupted with meetings and summits across the continent cancelled or postponed and various European leaders scrambling to find buses and taxis to get them to their destinations.
In many ways Iceland’s volcano has emerged as an unexpected democratiser, affecting the average Joe as much as vaunted celebrities and shaking a Europe usually coddled from natural disasters that strike with deadly regularity in other parts of the world, out of its pampered existence. With hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded around Europe and elsewhere, the everyday fabric of life has been ripped apart with families unexpectedly separated and businesses gone awry.
For many, the most unsettling aspect of the drama is its unpredictability. No expert is able to say with certainty how long the volcano may continue to spew. Another volcano, Katla, located next to the one in question is also in potential danger of erupting which would only further cloud the picture.
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The more pessimistic analysts are prophesising weeks, even months of flight disruptions. The consequences for a society where air travel is almost as much a taken-for-granted aspect of life as breathing, are difficult to conceive. For all the technological advances of the 21st century, losing the ability to physically be where one needs to be and at short notice will be devastating.
For those within Europe cars, buses, trains and ferries provide an alternative to planes, but already these are full up despite extra capacity having been provided to meet the rush. Pockets of airspace in Greece, Italy and Spain which remain open are also providing some respite. Indian airline Jet Airways has temporarily moved its Brussels hub to Athens, operating flights between Mumbai and Newark as well as between Delhi and Toronto, all via Greece.
Brussels, the headquarters of the EU, has now set up a special task force to probe the economic consequences of the disruptions, following the biggest airspace shutdown since World War II. Particularly hard hit is the airline industry which is losing some $200 million per day.
Airlines are clamouring for a reassessment of the situation. Lufthansa, KLM and British Airways amongst others, have flown test flights to no adverse affect. “The flight ban, made on the basis just of computer calculations, is resulting in billion-high losses for the economy,” Lufthansa spokesman Klaus Walter was quoted in media as saying.
The European Commission is considering a waiver of state aid rules that would allow its member states to funnel millions of euros in emergency funding to airlines. Europe’s transportation ministers were meeting in Brussels on Monday to assess the situation. Ahead of the meeting European transport commissioner Siim Kallas called the situation “unprecedented” adding that it was clearly untenable to “just wait until this ash cloud dissipates.”
Yet, it is unclear as yet, what else Europe can do. Kallas called for stronger European co-ordination of airspace management in the hope that this may maximise the airspace available to airlines without compromising safety.
The larger economic impact to Europe’s economy already struggling to emerge from the global financial crisis is of course larger than the immediate losses to airlines. The longer the disruptions continue, the more grave the consequences will be from forced holiday cancellations, delayed deliveries and reduced jet fuel demand. Exporters of flowers and vegetables by air to European supermarkets and technology companies relying on “just-in-time” deliveries of components are among those businesses that could all feel the pinch.
But, despite the inconveniences and worries, for many in Europe this volcanic act of God is something that must be accepted, since it cannot be changed. And in the age-old human tradition they are seeking solace in humour. Here’s one joke doing the round about the beleaguered Icelandic economy: The last wish of the Icelandic economy was to have its ashes spread over Europe.