Germany lets Lufthansa fly 15,000 back home

Germany lets Lufthansa fly 15,000 back home
AP

By Jill Lawless And Melissa Eddy, Associated Press Writers – 1 min ago


BERLIN – Germany's aviation authority broke the flight deadlock on Monday, granting Lufthansa an exemption to fly 50 long-haul planes carrying 15,000 passengers back home below the cloud of volcanic ash hanging over Europe.

Britain chimed in with more good news, saying flight restrictions over Scottish airspace will be lifted Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. local time (0600 GMT, 2 a.m. EDT) and other British airports could reopen later that day as well. The government also sent Royal Navy warships to rescue those marooned across the Channel by flight cancelations.

As airline losses spiraled over $1 billion, the aviation industry blasted European officials, claiming there was "no coordination and no leadership" in the crisis that shut down most European airports for a fifth day.

Eurocontrol, the air traffic agency in Brussels, said less than one-third of flights in Europe were taking off Monday — between 8,000 and 9,000 of the continent's 28,000 scheduled flights. Airports in southern Europe were open, however, and Spain offered to become an emergency hub for the whole continent.

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