Volcanic ash cloud cost airlines $1.7bn

Berlin, Apr 21: The volcanic ash cloud has cost the Aviation industry a loss of at least $1.7 billion, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

IATA said that during the first three days of grounding, the disruptions caused to European air travel from volcanic ash cloud has led to the airlines losing revenues of $400 million each day.

The scale of disruption was far greater than post 9/11 terrorist attacks in United States, the group"s chief executive said.

In a news conference in Berlin, Giovanni Bisignani said that the government's order of airspace closure, fearing the risk posed on airplanes by ash clouds, affected 29 percent of global aviation and 1.2 million passengers on daily basis.

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