Volcanic Ash Outcome On Tourism

From 15 April until 21 April a total of 1,177 flights to and from Greek airports were canceled due to the volcanic ash cloud from Ireland, according to Civil Aviation Authority data.

The data was presented at a recent teleconfe­rence of the European Union’s 27 tourism ministers chaired by European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani.

Specifically, 589 arrivals and 588 departures were canceled in Greece according to data from the country’s 10 biggest airports, namely Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklio, Rodos, Kerkyra, Chania, Kos, Santorini, Mykonos and Zakynthos.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, some 85,660 passengers were trapped in Greek airports during the ash cloud crisis, airline companies said.

Press reports underlined that Greece’s hotel sector suffered eight percent in cancellations.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had said that the Icelandic volcano crisis cost airlines more than $1.7 billion (1.3 billion euros) in lost revenue.

Iceland’s Eyjafjoell volcano erupted on 14 April, spreading an ash cloud across much of northern and western Europe and triggering the biggest disruption to aviation since World War II.

Eurocontrol, the continent’s air traffic control coordinator, said more than 100,000 flights to, from and within Europe had been canceled between 15 and 21 April, preventing an estimated 10 million passengers from traveling.