Five days after European airspace was closed, several postal operators are reporting difficulties in delivering international mail. Others are seeking alternative ways to keep the post moving.
From Russia, Sri Lanka and Norway to other far-flung corners of the globe, the grounding of flights over the past few days has left volumes of mail stuck at airports.
Postal operators worldwide annually process and deliver some 438 billion letters and 6 billion parcels. Of these, 5.4 billion letters and 44 millions parcels are cross-border traffic.
Limited flights are expected to resume today in Europe. While operators will make use of any flights available, they are also using road transportation to deliver mail. Some are driving their loads to southern Europe where flights are less affected by the clouds of volcanic ash spreading across the continent.
France’s La Poste said that French civil-aviation authorities today announced the partial resumption of flights to and from Paris. As the schedule of flights remains limited, the operator has set up a road transport programme for destinations reachable by vehicle.
In Sri Lanka, the Post has suspended all airmail and expedited mail dispatches to several European countries and is asking customers to not post mails until further notice.
Reduced participation
At UPU headquarters in Berne, Switzerland, where the annual session of the Postal Operations Council (POC) is taking place until April 30, meeting participation is lower than usual. For delegations unable to come to Switzerland, the International Bureau is facilitating their participation in the meetings through video or teleconferencing or suggesting representation by proxy. Member countries can also follow discussions through webcasting.
Close to 1,000 delegates normally attend POC meetings. These deal with various operational issues ranging from postal security, addressing and the development of services such as letter post, parcels and electronic services, among many others.