The numerous airlines that have been grounded since a volcano under an Icelandic glacier erupted Wednesday are not covered by insurance.
Typical airline insurance policies would cover damage to planes if they flew through a volcanic ash cloud, but so far no plane has been damaged because of the ban on flights in the vicinity of the cloud, insurance companies and experts said. And airlines don’t have insurance for grounding planes due to natural events because policies would be very expensive, they said.
Thousands of flights have been cancelled into and out of Europe and hundreds of thousands of passengers have been stranded at airports throughout the world since Wednesday. Though those passengers may have trip insurance, the airlines cannot file a claim for this major business interruption (their business interruption insurance, if they have it, only covers the grounding of planes due to physical damage to the aircraft).
The airlines are facing huge losses in revenue at a time when the industry is still struggling with reduced demand.
The Air Transport Association, or IATA, which represents some 230 airlines and 93% of scheduled international global air traffic said that at current levels of disruption, its initial and conservative estimate of the financial impact on airlines is in excess of 0 million per day in lost revenues.
buy flomax online www.biop.cz/slimbox/css/gif/flomax.html no prescription pharmacyHowever, it said airlines would be hurt further as it they will incur added costs for re-routing of aircraft, care for stranded passengers and aircraft at various ports.
But there is a silver lining, however thin. Scandinavian ferries are fully booked and hotel owners are charging upwards of $800 a night while taxi drivers pocket $5,000 fares. So while airlines lose millions, stranded passengers confront desperation and the European economy takes yet another hit, there are those making the best of this natural catastrophe.
