Dubai: This year's eruptions in Iceland's Grimsvoetn volcano will not hurt airline revenues to the same extent as last year, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which estimated revenue losses of $1.8 billion (Dh6.6 billion) last year following the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption.
"Airlines will not suffer the same magnitude of revenue loss as they did last year in volcanic ash. Last year's closure of almost all European airspace for nearly a week was the biggest shutdown in modern aviation history. This year we are not seeing anything like the same shutdown," an IATA spokesperson told Gulf News.
Other industry experts echoed the same view.
"Any losses will be minimal and will hurt only those airlines affected by the disruption. If anything, losses/costs shouldn't exceed a few million dollars cumulatively," said Saj Ahmad, UK-based aerospace and aviation analyst with FBE Aerospace.
Limited impact
He added that any financial impact will be "very limited" as there hasn't been a wholesale closure of airspace.
The disruption from last year's Eyjafjallajokull volcano grounded 100,000 flights in the first six days, IATA had estimated.
Meanwhile, Gulf carriers Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, collectively lost about $130 million.
Emirates was the only Gulf carrier to cancel a flight yesterday on its Dubai-Hamburg-Dubai route.
Etihad and Qatar Airways, however, said they were operating their flight schedules "as normal".
Asked about the expected scale of revenue loss the aviation industry could suffer due to this year's eruption, the IATA spokesperson said: "I am afraid it is too early to say, but at the moment it is nothing like the situation last year."
He added that there was no blanket closure of airspace such as the one the industry saw last year.
Even though the drifting ash cloud yesterday forced the closure of German airports for a good part of the day and was responsible for the cancellation of about 1,000 flights since Tuesday, there are "no knee-jerk reactions" from airlines, said Addison Schonland, a US-based aviation analyst and president of the Innovation Analysis Group (IAG).
"That says a lot for having been through this before. The reaction [of airlines] has been much more measured this time based on last year's awful experience," he said.
He added that airlines are going to be watching this closely to ensure they minimal disruption to operations.
Learnt their lessons
Schonland also said that airlines had learnt lessons from last year and are more prepared this year.
"Note the calm approach this time — wary but no over reactions," he said.
Meanwhile, most flights were limping back to normalcy in the latter half of yesterday as eruptions from the volcano slowly dissipated.
