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| Engines of Lufthansa planes covered for protection from volcanic ash |
19 April 2010—Travel experts say it could take up to a fortnight for flights to return to normal even after the ban is lifted. The ash began spewing from an Icelandic volcano on Wednesday and has drifted across most of Europe, shutting down airports as far south and east as Bulgaria.
The shutdown is estimated to have cost the European travel industry more than £1billion in cancelled flights and hotel rooms and the pilots' union Balpa warned that recession-hit airlines were 'staring bankruptcy in the face'.
The economic effect of the air ban was demonstrated this morning as shares in key airlines plummeted.
British Airways shares fell as much as six per cent, while budget rival Easyjet saw its stock plunge four per cent.
Furious airline officials yesterday shattered the safety consensus which has grounded their planes.
The German carrier Lufthansa said it was ‘scandalous’ that it was ordered on the basis of a single computer simulation of the effects of the ash cloud.
The executives believe the Met Office computer model is flawed and pointed to the 20 test flights completed safely over the weekend.
BA boss Mr Walsh boarded his own airline’s Boeing 747 test flight to demonstrate his belief in the safety of flying. His firm—still recovering from the effects of the cabin crew strike last month—is losing £25 million a day, around £1million an hour.
The Met Office defended its forecasts and said its own test flight had detected volcanic dust at levels which would cause aircraft damage.
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