The conference follows an aviation crisis in April and May when Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted, spewing vast clouds of ash around Europe, amid fears that its sister volcano Katla could be brought to life.
The European Commission estimates that the April disruptions to air traffic cost an already flagging industry 1.5-2.5 billion euros ($2-3.3 billion). Around 100,000 flights were cancelled, stranding about 10 million travellers (EurActiv 05/05/10).
Experts from major governments, international organisations, aerospace companies and airlines will meet in the former NATO base town of Keflavik from 15-16 September to try to determine who should do what in the case of a future volcanic eruption in order to minimise further harm to the aviation sector.
"This should produce some clear indication of where the international community is heading to ensure the effects of a big eruption are minimised in the future," Henry Gaudry, president of the European Volcanological Society, told Reuters.
Many experts, including Gaudry, said at the time that European authorities had little choice but to act as they did to avoid potential disasters from the clogging of aircraft engines by the fine-glass dust.
Airline and airport bodies had resented the abrupt closure of European airspace, however, a move they said was hasty and could have been avoided, and pursued test flights through the ash cloud where they say planes were able to fly safely.
Specialists said the crisis was caused in part by a lack of coordination among several authorities on how to respond to the eruption, prompting the meeting, to be organised by Iceland's Keilir Aviation Academy,
Eyjafjallajokull is now calm, but it will not be until September or October that it can be declared dormant again.
(EurActiv with Reuters.)
