WHILE we would not want anyone to be exposed to unnecessary risk, we do now feel the time is right for governments to listen to airline experts who are saying flight bans are no longer necessary.

The chaos caused by the closure of airspace in the wake of the Icelandic volcano eruption is costing airline companies billions and has left hundreds of thousands of people stranded.

We understand governments have to be cautious when public safety is an issue.

But if BA and KLM are both saying it is safe to fly, having sent aircraft out to check the impact on their engines, surely the authorities need to take that evidence into account.

If a decision was made to reintroduce some flights we would not want to force anyone to board a plane if they felt it was unsafe. Passengers should be offered refunds if they felt unable to fly.

It does appear that this is a very inexact science.

A safety first approach was obviously appropriate at first but how long will it, or indeed need it, go on?

The International Air Transport Association has lambasted Europe's governments for closing airspace in the way they did saying there was no risk assessment, no consultation and no leadership.

Perhaps now is the time to review those decisions.