COST TO AIRLINES:AER LINGUS estimated yesterday that the grounding of flights has cost the airline between €15 and €20 million, while Ryanair predicted its net profit would be hit by some €42 million.
Both airlines said their staff continued to be paid despite the cancellation of flights.
In a statement to the stock market yesterday, Aer Lingus said that some 1,100 of its flights had been cancelled in the five days to the end of Monday.
The financial impact of flight cancellations, between lost revenue, the cost of reimbursing passengers for fares and putting customers up in hotels over the five-day period, could be as high as €20 million, the airline said.
Its current “daily run rate” is between €4 million and €5 million, but a spokesman said the cost may start to go down as passengers find their own way home.
“Going forward, the daily costs will depend on the pattern of cancellations,” the statement said. “The group has substantial cash reserves and can withstand a sustained closure of airspace.”
Ryanair said it expects its net profit for the year to the end of March 2011 to be reduced by about €6 million per day over the seven days of “substantial disruption” from April 15th to April 22nd.
Meanwhile, the Irish Airline Pilots Association said yesterday that pilots and cabin crew staff who worked on contract for some airlines were paid per flight and accordingly had not received any payment due to the cancellations.
However, a spokesman for Aer Lingus said last night that the airline was continuing to pay staff.
A spokeswoman for Ryanair said payments were continuing to be made to staff.
Ryanair has cancelled flights until at least Thursday.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) yesterday called on employers to be sympathetic to employees who have been unable to travel and were missing work.
Ictu legislation officer Esther Lynch said: “Docking wages is a harsh reaction, and it will put even more pressure on workers who may have incurred significant and unexpected costs as they try to find alternative ways to get home.”
Ictu also urged employers not to penalise staff who could not make it to work by putting pressure on them to use their annual leave.