Abandoned flights leave travel industry with a £1bn bill so far

Disruption to passengers globally is likely to last for another two weeks, according to a crisis advisory company Lewis PR.

"The four days of disruption so far will have cost the European travel industry well over 1bn in terms of cancelled flights, lost hotel rooms and empty cruise liners," said spokesman Paul Charles.

Mr Charles, a former senior director at Virgin Atlantic Airways and at Eurostar, added: "Airlines alone are facing a massive bill from lost revenues and the enormous costs of re-accommodating and repatriating stranded passengers.

"Travel and transport firms have faced a double whammy of disruption this year, with snow-related cancellations and now the ash cloud crisis, and several firms are at breaking point. Post recession, they have few or no cash reserves to fall back on and will be teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

"The wider implications will add further costs to the economy, in terms of staff not being able to get back to work because they are stranded and cargo, such as fresh food and vital medicine supplies, not being delivered. There will also be an impact on the May Day bank holiday weekend."

Yesterday Mr Brown said travel companies losing money may be able to claim compensation from the EU.

He said he would be "shocked" if train and ferry operators were reaping extra profits as a result of the circumstances.

Mr Brown went on: "We want the minimum amount of disruption; we want to open up airspace as quickly as possible. We have to work with the rest of the EU to do it because everyone's facing this similar challenge.

"I hope if it comes to finance for companies that are affected by this, we can get EU support from their solidarity fund."

As the prospect of long delays for travellers trapped abroad seem increasingly likely, the Foreign Office has stepped in to offer help.

The FO said it was "working closely with the travel industry and Whitehall partners to ensure that British nationals are given accurate and up-to-date advice" and was "co-ordinating closely with EU partners".

The FO went on: "Consular staff overseas are providing assistance in a number of ways including visiting airports, working with the local authorities to resolve visa problems and advising British nationals who have run out of funds."

In Dubai alone, Emirates airline has almost 3,000 stranded British passengers at hotels.

Company president Tim Clark said the firm was spending 651,000 a day on hotel bills.

"We have to keep it up for as long as is necessary," Mr Clark said. "Hopefully we'll see a beginning of an end to this situation in the next 48 hours."

The airspace closure, which has halted around a fifth of Emirates' services, is costing it 7 million daily, he added.

Mr Clark said Emirates "would dearly love to get our European operation back into place as quickly as possible" but he added that safety was paramount.

Mr Clark said extensive checks had shown "absolutely no evidence of any volcanic ash build-up either in the engines or the aircraft systems".

The British Airline Pilots Association has also raised questions about the blanket ban on flights, although it stressed it respected the decision by the National Air Traffic Control Service.

"However this is not the first volcanic eruption that there has been in the world, but it is the first time that there has been the closure of so much airspace, for such a prolonged period and with no end in sight," Balpa said in a statement.

It asked whether the assumptions underpinning the ban had been opened to review by authorities elsewhere.

AIRSPACE BLOW HITS WOUNDED TROOPS

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is considering plans to fly troops wounded in Afghanistan to coalition partner countries such as Germany for treatment if UK airspace remains closed because of the cloud of volcanic ash, it has emerged.

Normally, wounded troops would be flown home and treated at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham.

One report said wounded troops might be flown as far as America for treatment.

A Sunday newspaper said the most badly injured could be evacuated alongside wounded US soldiers via an ash-free southern Europe route to Andrews Air Force Base, near Washington DC.

The spokeswoman said: "We have made alternative arrangements with coalition partners to bring back wounded troops if necessary."