Volcanic Ash Costs Bulgarian Airlines EUR 400 000 a Day

An exit road sign near the airport of Hamburg, Germany, 19 April 2010. Volcanic ashes from an eruption on Iceland continue to disrupt air traffic in many parts of Europe, air space remains closed. Photo by EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria's airlines and foreign companies, which carry out flights over the territory of the country, suffer losses between EUR 300 000 and EUR 400 000 a day due to travel disruptions caused by the high-altitude ash billowing from an erupting Icelandic volcano.

“Bulgarian airlines are incurred losses worth tens of millions of euros due to the suspended flights across Europe,” Yovko Yotsev, representative of the Association of the Bulgarian airline, told Darik radio.

“Airlines worldwide are losing at least USD 200 M a day in revenue as a volcanic ash cloud over Europe keeps flights grounded,” Yordan Karamalakov from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) told the radio.

The association officials are convinced that European authorities went too far in shutting down airspace because of the dangers posed by volcanic ash and have made the situation even more difficult for the airline companies.

“We are far enough into this crisis to express our dissatisfaction on how governments have managed it - with no risk assessment, no consultation, no coordination, and no leadership,“ said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO, according to a statement, circulated to the media.

"I challenge governments to agree on ways to flexibly re-open airspace. Risk assessments should be able to help us re-open certain corridors, if not entire airspaces,” said Bisignani.

"To assist governments in assessing risk, airlines have conducted successful test flights in several European countries. The results have not shown any irregularities or safety issues," the statement points out.

EU transport ministers are set to hold a video conference later Monday on the volcanic ash cloud blowing across Europe, as airlines insisted that the restrictions that have so far led to the cancellation of over 63,000 flights needed to be reassessed after several successful test flights over the weekend.

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