Costs of the disruption to the global airline industry caused by the volcanic ash cloud have spiralled to $1.7bn (£1.1bn), according to new estimates today from the International Air Transport Association (Iata). Iata, which is also demanding that European goverments compensate the airline industry, initially estimated that airlines were losing $200m a day. Now, however, it says costs soared to $400m a day on Saturday, Sunday and Monday when the crisis was at its peak. Planes are now landing at airports across the UK after carriers such as British Airways demanded an end to the blanket ban on flights through the ash cloud. Giovanni Bisignani, Iata's director general, said airlines should not pay the bill for mistakes made by European politicians. "I am the first one to say that this industry does not want or need bailouts. But this crisis is not the result of running our business badly. It is an extraordinary situation exaggerated with a poor decision-making process by national governments," said Bisignani. "The airlines could not do business normally. Governments should help carriers recover the cost of this disruption." Passengers began arriving back at Heathrow around 10pm yesterday, but the task of repatriating everyone stranded by the six-day disruption will take many days. Bisignani said that some airports, including Heathrow and Dubai, have waived their daily parking fees. He urged other airports to copy this "best practice", sparing drivers from a hefty bill when they finally return home. Most of the cost has been incurred by Europe's airlines, with BA losing up to £20m a day. The European airline sector was already expected to lose $2.2bn this year, and some analysts have warned that the ash cloud could drive weaker airlines out of business. Bisignani pointed out that the US government gave its airlines a $5bn bailout after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He wants Europe to pay similar compensation this time. Iata also argued that restrictions on night flights should be lifted. Iata also said it was unfair that EU legislation holds airlines responsible for paying the cost of looking after their passengers under such circumstances. "This crisis is an act of God – completely beyond the control of airlines. Insurers certainly see it this way. But Europe's passenger rights regulations take no consideration of this. These regulations provide no relief for extraordinary situations and still hold airlines responsible to pay for hotels, meals and telephones," said Bisignani. BA chief executive Willie Walsh claimed last night that the lockdown of UK airspace from Thursday lunchtime to last night was a serious blunder. Walsh, who took part in a test flight on Sunday, argued that flights could have restarted much sooner. This morning, though, transport secretary Lord Adonis insisted that safety regulators have acted in an "appropriate and proper way" throughout the crisis. "The key turning point was safety advice that was given to a meeting of European transport ministers on Monday, and it is following that that safety regulators have been making changes across Europe," he told the BBC's Today programme. "I believe that they [safety officials] have done their duty properly, and I would not have wished to place any pressure on them to have acted faster than was compatible with the safe passage of planes." Travel companies Thomas Cook and Tui Travel, which owns Thomson Holidays and First Choice, also criticised the government today. They met with Adonis last night, along with several airlines, and claimed today that there was not enough interest in bringing stranded people home. "It became apparent [at the meeting] that the government is condoning a two-tier system between the way low-cost airlines and airlines of holiday companies operate. Some low-cost airlines stated that their focus would be to commence normal flying schedules as soon as possible and made it clear that it was the government's responsibility to repatriate their customers. We believe this is a flawed and inequitable approach that is to the disadvantage of consumers," said the two tour operators in a joint statement. More than 100,000 Tui customers were trapped abroad. The company expects to bring 21,000 home today, and 32,000 tomorrow, with the last holidaymakers returned to Britain by the end of Friday. "The government's response to the crisis has been a shambles. It is clear that they underestimated the severity of the consequences of the decision for a blanket closure of the airspace for such a protracted period of time," added Peter Long, the chief executive of Tui Travel.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
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