Schiphol still closed, minister hopes flights will resume Tuesday

A KLM Boeing 737 which flew from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to Paris on Monday morning has landed with out problems and no signs of damage caused by the cloud of volcanic ash hanging over the Netherlands, news agency ANP said.


A technical inspection has turned up nothing of note, ANP said. Other test flights took place at the weekend between the Netherlands and Germany.
The test flights come as European airlines become increasingly vocal in their calls for a resumption of normal service.
Tuesday
Dutch transport minister Camiel Eurlings said on Monday he hopes normal flights can resume on Tuesday. European transport ministers are due to discuss the ban during a video conference later on Tuesday.
However, glass from the ash has been found in the motor of a Nato F16 fighter jet, a Nato official said in Brussels on Monday. ‘This is a very, very serious case,’ the official told reporters.
Helicopters and small aircraft have been given the green light to fly since Sunday and the Dutch pilots’ association is also calling for a cautious resumption of normal services. KLM says the ban on flying is costing it between €10m and €15m a day.
On Saturday, the country’s biggest trade union federation, the FNV, called on the government to help airlines hit by the ban, such as cutting employee costs.

Stranded

KLM also said on Monday it was to pick up passengers stranded on the Caribbean island of Curacao
and in Suriname and take them to an as-yet unnamed European airport.
But there are advantages to the flight ban too, news agency ANP points out. Hotels around Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport are full and alternative forms of transport are profiting as well, in particular international train services.
Compensation
It is still unclear who will pay the bill for the missed flights and hotels, although under EU rules, airlines will carry a large part of the cost, the Volkskrant reports.
‘If a flight is cancelled, airlines have to give passengers a place to stay, food and drink. No matter what the reason for the cancellation,’ Steven van der Heijden of the TUI travel organisation told the paper. In fact, it is an absurd ruling, he said.
TUI has some 2,500 customers abroad who should have returned to the Netherlands over the weekend. It has brought some back from Spain by bus.

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