Waiting for the ash cloud to blow over

Hundreds of thousands of passengers were stranded as planes were grounded in Northern Europe. Tourists weren't the only ones to suffer after Amsterdam's Schiphol airport shut down.

The Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov has a date with a rare 1920 Bechstein piano in Utrecht on Friday night. But it is unclear if he will make it to the Dutch city in time. The 65-year-old was stranded in Copenhagen on Thursday after the airport there closed because of the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland hovering over the continent. His flight to Amsterdam was cancelled and the international train south was fully booked. The pianist is one of hundreds of thousands who suffered logistic problems following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

Aside from travellers, a lot of cargo was also stuck at airports. As passengers made their way to international trains, ferries and hotels, goods were piling up. If the airspace above northern Europe doesn't open soon, many goods will spoil, said Joost van Doesburg, of Dutch shippers organisation EVO. "I spoke to three companies that are in serious trouble just this morning. Individual companies could lose hundreds of thousands of euros."

Damages run in the millions

Amsterdam's Schiphol airport was one of many that grounded planes for at least 24 hours on Thursday and Friday. The closure of airspace over several countries reveals the vulnerability of an economy that is based on just-in-time delivery, allowing for fresh products and minimal inventories. In shipping, 'fresh' can apply to many things, ranging from Moroccan grapes to trendy fashion items and electrical devices from Asia.

Eimskip, an Icelandic logistics firm, ships fresh fish via Schiphol. "We are trying to put everything in our cold storage. And our customers have realised by now we can't deliver anything at the moment," said employee Erik Kroon. "We have to wait for this to blow over, literally."

Schiphol processes 1.2 million tonnes of cargo annually. The losses caused by this sudden and long-lasting interruption of traffic run in the millions, said Van Doesburg. The disruption will have repercussions in the supply chain for days to come. "Even if we fly again tomorrow, it will be at limited capacity," he said. "Meanwhile the warehouses and hangars are completely full."

Political consequences

All over Europe, 17,000 of the planned 28,000 flights were cancelled on Friday. Air traffic will not be back to normal before Saturday morning. The funeral of Polish president Lech Kaczynski, now scheduled for Sunday, could be postponed because of the disruption, and there could be consequences for other political meetings as well.

In the Netherlands, economic affairs minister Maria van der Hoeven made it home from her work visit to Japan in time. Acting finance minister Jan Kees de Jager had to cancel a debate in parliament to catch a flight to Madrid just before authorities closed the airspace. He is meeting his EU counterparts there. The European finance commissioner, Olli Rehn, took the night train instead.

The Dutch royal family didn't have to decline the invitation to the Danish queen Margrethe's birthday. The private train carriage of the royals was connected to the night train to Copenhagen on Thursday. To the disappointment of the Rail Museum in Utrecht, where it was the highlight of a special exhibition.

Whether the piano recital in Utrecht will be able to take place remained to be seen on Friday. Pianist Lubimov surely can't ask for the airline to compensate the damage he suffered due to his cancelled flight. Airlines only have to pay if they are responsible for the delays, not when they are victims of extraordinary circumstances beyond their control.