Airlines 'have lost more than €70m' over ash crisis
Ireland’s two leading airlines tonight warned they have lost more than €70m as an Icelandic volcano paralysed the aviation industry.
Aer Lingus said it was losing about €5m and Ryanair €6m a day as 30,000 Irish people were left stranded overseas praying for rain and southerly winds to disperse a massive ash cloud.
Weather forecasters dampened hopes the no-fly zone would shift north over the next two days and warned it may be Friday before airlines will finally see clear skies.
Both airlines said they could survive six days of heavy financial losses with Aer Lingus insisting it had sufficient cash reserves, while Ryanair claimed re-routing passengers was its priority.
Flight bans remain in place at Dublin and Cork until 10pm tonight, while Shannon shuts its runways at 9pm.
Met Eireann’s Ger Fleming said the forecast is not expected to change until Friday and Saturday when south-westerly winds should clear the air over Europe.
The weather patterns should then continue into next week.
“After that, it all depends on what the weather does and what the volcano does,” he said.
The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said it was allowing flights in Irish airspace above 20,500 feet but warned officials were working with counterparts overseas, airlines and engine manufacturers to decide on the extent of Europe’s three flight zones – no-fly, buffer and no restrictions.
“Negotiations in this respect are progressing and we are hoping to soon have a graduated return to normal operations, subject to the positioning of the high-risk zone, which has dangerous levels of volcanic ash and which requires total restriction,” the IAA said.
The Government’s emergency taskforce, which meets every day in central Dublin, said its consular crisis centre dealt with 1,100 calls yesterday, mostly from people seeking advice on alternative travel.
Officials again insisted there were no health dangers to the public from ash falling to the ground.
Environmental experts have recorded falls of ash along the west coast but insisted it will be minimal and poses minimal health risks.
Maurice Mullen, assistant secretary general at the Department of Transport, said European Commission figures suggested between 5,000 and 10,000 Irish passengers are abroad.
But he added that Irish people travel on average four or five times more than other nationalities.
“We have some sort of sense that there are certainly 20,000 to 30,000, maybe slightly more, (Irish) people caught up in this,” he said.
It is estimated up to 15,000 foreign people were stranded here.
Aer Lingus have cancelled all flights until tomorrow while Ryanair will not run services between Ireland and the UK until Friday, focusing instead on bringing people home from the continent.
Ryanair said total losses will depend on how quickly normal schedules resume.
“Obviously this figure will vary depending on how long these disruptions persist, the number of flights which Ryanair is able to operate following resumption of schedules, how quickly the backlogs can be cleared, and when load factors return to normal,” the airline said.
The Government said the airline grounding has seen pharmaceutical, medical and IT firms face difficulties exporting products because of the freight ban.
But it insisted there were no imminent shortages in medication being imported into Ireland because of the restrictions.
