Emirates has so far incurred a total loss of $50 million (Dh183.5m) in revenues as a result of the flights disruptions caused by volcanic ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjoell volcano that erupted on Wednesday last week.

"For Emirates, it has been a $50m loss of income so far over a period of five days by the way of losing $10m a day. In addition, we have lost another $5m (per day loss of $1m) in terms of accommodating the stranded passengers in Dubai hotels," Tim Clark, President, Emirates airline, told Emirates Business. "These are losses which are coming straight out of our own pocket."

The airline said it is providing accommodation for approximately 6,000 passengers who were in transit when the disruption began, and that, to date, over 80,000 passengers have been impacted by the ongoing disruption. Clark added that the airline has cancelled operations to all its UK and European routes due to the ongoing issue with the "exception of some".

"We estimate it will take around 24 hours to get flight schedules back to normal," said Clark, adding that the airline is not accepting passengers for travel to any European destinations excluding Moscow, Athens, Larnaca, Malta and Istanbul until April 20.

He further said that Emirates has had to ground 20 per cent of its fleet, with 30 planes on the ground as of now.

"We, along with the heads of other European carriers, are possibly seeking some relief and relaxation in terms of the shutdown of airspace. It does not have to be a complete shutdown," Clark told Emirates Business. Meanwhile, the impact of the volcanic eruptions is being felt by almost all the Gulf carriers serving the UK and European destinations.

These include Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Oman Air and Gulf Air – they have all had to bear consequences, including economic, from the shutdown of UK and European airspace.

Flight restrictions have been extended in most parts of Europe until today and weather forecast predicts that the ash cloud could remain for many more days, leaving many airlines across the globe in a quandary.

Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways said yesterday its flight cancellations remain in place to the UK, Ireland, Belarus and the majority of its European destinations until further notice, due to the spread of volcanic ash cloud. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier also said that it has reinstated services to Moscow as of yesterday afternoon and that Moscow services will return to their normal operating schedule from today. The airline's spokesperson told Emirates Business that about 2,500 passengers were stranded in the region and that their staying expenses were taken care of by the airline. However, the spokesperson denied to comment on the total loss that the airline had to incur due to this.

Oman Air

The flagship airline of Oman avowed that several Europe-bound passengers were stranded in the region. "We fly to London, Munich, Frankfurt and Paris. These flights have all been cancelled since the closure of European airspace. We have a few hundred passengers bound for Europe stranded in the region," said the airline spokesperson. When asked about losses, he said: "It is currently too early to make a proper assessment on the losses incurred."

Gulf Air

The Bahrain-based airline, too, cancelled its flights to the European subcontinent. The company's websites stated it is monitoring the situation in the Europe. The carrier said in a statement the volcanic ash plume over European airspace has lead to the cancellation of its flights to and from London, Paris and Frankfurt. Around 32 flights have been affected since April 15, when these airports were declared closed, Gulf Air said. According to the company's website, travellers can rebook their seats. "Passengers holding confirmed tickets on disrupted flights can also claim full or partial refund. No cancellation, refund, service charges, fees or penalties will be imposed," the website stated.

Qatar Airways

Passengers flying in Qatar Airways remained stranded not just in the Middle East but also in India. While an e-mail sent to Qatar Airways about the current status of the situation went unanswered, the Doha-based carrier said earlier it has cancelled more than 40 flights scheduled for Friday and Saturday to and from European destinations. Affected destinations include Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Manchester, Munich, Paris and Stockholm.

Global scene

Flights from the Asia too were cancelled. Asian airline, cancelled flights and accommodation costs are running into millions of dollars for the airline. "If this continues, there will be an impact on the earnings of all big carriers," Dow Jones quoted an officer from Asia.

Australian carrier Qantas, which uses Singapore as one of its major hubs for Europe-bound flights, has offered stranded passengers at Asian ports the opportunity to take flights back to Australia. It says about 10,000 passengers have in total been affected by cancellations. A spokeswoman for Qantas said it has about 1,000 passengers stranded in Singapore, with many now taking up the offer to return to Australia, DJ reported. Singapore Airlines, one of the biggest carriers in the world, said it has been unable to move many of its stranded passengers due to limited capacity on alternative routes. Singapore Airlines spokesperson Nicholas Ionides said the carrier has been cancelling around 20 flights to and from Europe daily, since the problem began.

"At this point, Rome and Athens airports are open to us," said Ionides. "We have put all stranded passengers in hotels – we can't put extra flights to open airports mainly because those airports have imposed restrictions and they are not accepting more flights."

China Airlines, Taiwan's largest airline by revenue, spent at least NT$5 million on chartering buses and a ferry to move passengers in Europe, a company's public relation officer was quoted by DJ.

China Airlines, which operates flights to five destinations in Europe, diverted one London-bound flight on Thursday to Frankfurt, and chartered buses to transport the nearly 300 passengers to Paris from Frankfurt, and from Paris to London by ferry, the official who declined to be named, said.

Taiwan's Tourism Bureau said currently there are 1,455 Taiwanese passengers in Europe awaiting return flights, but all tour groups leaving after Friday have already cancelled their flights. Mid-April is the beginning of the peak travel season to Europe, according to the bureau.

China Airlines and smaller rival EVA Airways posted on their websites that they have cancelled another 19 flights on Sunday and Monday to and from Europe, including connecting flights.

India's Jet Airways said it will soon start routing some of its flights to the US and Canada via Athens. A spokeswoman for Jet said the airline has received permission from government authorities in the European Union and India to use Athens as a temporary transit point until London Heathrow and Brussels airports re-open.

A spokesman for another Indian carrier, Air India, also said that the airline is planning to fly to the US via alternative routes. Among other airlines, Cathay Pacific has now cancelled all its European flights to and from Hong Kong for Sunday, Monday and some flights even for Tuesday, with exception of those to Rome. Another 16 flights scheduled from Thursday to Sunday have been further delayed until at least Tuesday, it said. Flag carrier Air China said it has cancelled nine flights to Europe from Beijing and two from Shanghai that were scheduled for Sunday, a Dow Jones Newswires report said.

Revenue loss

International Air Transport Association or IATA on Sunday said in a recent statement that Airlines worldwide were losing at least $200m per day in revenue. "The estimate is conservative and does not include costs such as rerouting planes or caring for stranded passengers. Airlines worldwide will lose a collective $2.8bn in 2010 after an estimated $9.8bn cumulative loss last year, IATA had predicted last month.

Meanwhile, the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation or Capa, gave a bigger estimate than IATA for lost industry revenue, saying a third day of disruptions could total $1bn, Capa's Chief Operating Officer, Derek Sadubin was quoted by Bloomberg as saying this.

He said: "The lost revenue for the industry could be in the hundreds of millions, possibly as high as $1bn." He added that some six million passengers would be affected if the shutdown of European airports continues. "It will take days to restore schedules, even if the scare is called off today," stated Bloomberg, quoting Capa's recent report.

Ash cloud brings in the cash for UAE hotels

Bindu Suresh Rai

As the volcanic ash cloud continues to create havoc, the biggest casualty in this disaster is the opening of the Armani Hotel Dubai, which has been delayed again with flights being grounded across Europe.

In a statement to Emirates Business, a spokesperson from Armani Hotel said: "Due to the unforeseen closure of European Aerospace and the subsequent cancellation of international flights, the much anticipated grand opening of Armani Hotel Dubai has been postponed from April 21 to April 27."

It has been learned that designer, Giorgio Armani, along with a lieu of celebrities, were stranded in Europe, prompting local partners Emaar Properties to delay the opening of the Burj Khalifa property by six days.

However, a silver lining has emerged for the UAE's hospitality industry at large, which is seeing 100 per cent occupancy levels in some cases as hotels struggle to accommodate air passengers stranded in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Premier Inn is running at full occupancy across all three properties, as the budget chain takes in passengers from Emirates airline, which it partners with.

Similarly, hospitality giants Jumeirah Group, Rotana, Rezidor and the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) are also witnessing a surge in room bookings.

"We are completely booked across all three properties, however, the situation updates every 24 hours," Darroch Crawford, Managing Director for Premier Inn Middle East, told Emirates Business. "However, there is no doubt hotels are taking advantage of the situation through rates, bookings and their F&B outlets."

Similarly, Al Bustan Rotana Hotel is enjoying a 94 per cent occupancy. Helena Al Sayed, Director of Marketing and Communications for the hotel, said: "We are running at 94 per cent occupancy, with almost 30 per cent of that being passengers that have been stranded at the airport and those who have extended their stay due to their flights being cancelled." Meanwhile, IHG sales teams have approached airlines to take in passengers.

Christian Pertl, Director of Sales and Marketing, IHG Dubai Festival City, said: "Our sales force proactively contacted all the major airlines to offer as much support as possible – this included calls to Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France and Emirates. We accommodated as many rooms as we could offer."

However, Pertl added that they did not notice a definite surge in occupancy as their existing properties, InterContinental Dubai Festival City and the Crowne Plaza Hotel, were already at near capacity.

While some hotels had to turn away passengers because they were full, a spokesperson from Jumeirah Group said: "We have been able to accommodate all our guests that have been affected within Jumeirah Hotels."

Hotels in the capital were also enjoying the boom, with Rezidor Group's Park Inn and Radisson Blu Abu Dhabi, Yas Island, completely booked out.

Torbjorn Bodin, General Manager Radisson Blu Hotel, Abu Dhabi Yas Island, said: "Both our properties here are fully occupied, with the make-up of the residents being largely those that were in-house guests before the flight situation arose and are now unable to leave for Europe."