Airports have been warned by the European Commission of looming regulation to prevent a repeat of the pre-Christmas travel chaos.
European transport commissioner Siim Kallas also demanded to see contingency plans for next winter.
He met top executives from the biggest airports after December snow forced passengers to sleep at terminals when tens of thousands of flights were cancelled across Europe.
He said: “Volcanic ash is difficult for the aviation industry to predict, but we know that winter arrives every year and we should be ready for it.
“If you have 30 centimetres of snow suddenly in central Europe it is something very exceptional. But if you have one centimetre of snow and you still have announcements that flights are cancelled, this I consider unacceptable.”
He urged airports to prepare winter contingency plans and make them public by October, adding that one key issue to correct is the lack of information provided to passengers.
Kallas is to add a proposal to ensure airports provide a minimum service during a weather crisis to a package of legislation on liberalising the industry, which will be presented this summer.
But he ruled out any legislation that would allow passengers to sue airports in such situations, saying the system provides for people to seek redress through their airlines which in turn seek compensation from airports.
His comments came as the commission said 35,000 flights were cancelled last month – more than for the whole of 2009.
Kallas met senior executives yesterday (Wednesday) from companies that operate airports including Heathrow, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam’s Schiphol.
Another meeting with representatives from the entire aviation industry, from airports to airlines and ground handling services, will be held in March to discuss how to share risks and responsibilities.