LONDON, April 19 (UPI) -- An official representing the world's airlines criticized European governments for closing the airspace over the continent because of volcanic ash.
"This is a European embarrassment and it's a European mess," Giovanni Bisignani, the head of the International Air Transport Association, told the BBC.
Air travel was restricted across the continent Monday for a fifth consecutive day. European aviation control agency Eurocontrol said only 30 percent of around 9,000 scheduled flights would operate Monday.
Hundreds of thousands of travelers have been stuck at airports across the world, with political summits and bilateral government meetings canceled.
Bisignani said the airline industry is suffering more than after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He added airspace closures were costing airlines $200 million a day.
"The decision that Europe has made is with no risk assessment, no consultation, no co-ordination, no leadership," he said. "Europeans are still using a system based on a theoretical model which does not work ... instead of using a system and taking decisions on facts and on risk assessment."
