April 17- Iceland’s volcanic eruption on Wednesday and the lingering ash cloud has caused airlines to lose as $1 billion in revenue given the suspension of all flights to Europe, said the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). “The lost revenue for the industry could be in the hundreds of millions, possibly as high as $1 billion,” said Derek Sadubin, Chief Operating Officer (CEO), CAPA.
According to estimates, about six million passengers will be affected by the suspension of flights if European airports remain shut, added Sadubin. Delta Air Lines Inc., British Airways and Qantas Airways are among the dozens of airlines that have scrapped services after Iceland’s 5,500-foot Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted.
Meanwhile, the suspension of services became worse on Friday as airports in the region remained shut and more than half the flights to Europe were cancelled. British airspace will be closed until at least 1am on Saturday, according to flight-control authority National Air Traffic Services.
In Germany, 10 airports, including Frankfurt, were shuttered, according to the DFS air traffic control agency. Qantas, which has more than 1,000 passengers holding at Asian stopovers, canceled four services today and is unlikely to resume Europe flights before April 18. Singapore Airlines Ltd. axed eight flights while Air China Ltd and All Nippon Airways Co also scrapped services.
According to AccuWeather.com, the ash cloud is expected to linger till April 18 in all of Europe with no significant improvement in the coming days.
