Air traffic chaos cost Romanian air industry 27 million U.S. dollars

The air industry in Romania could register losses of more than 20 million euros (27 million U.S. dollars) over the three days during which European air traffic was affected by the eruption of a volcano in Iceland.

According to a statement of the Transport Ministry on Monday, the National Air Transport Company TAROM registered losses amounting to about 2.2 million euros (2.97 million dollars) on Saturday and Sunday, when air traffic was almost completely halted in Romania.

The ROMATSA, which coordinates the air traffic, lost 700,000 euros (945,000 dollars) over the past two days when the air space was shut, the statement said.

Romanian airports lost almost 7 million euros (9.45 million dollars). Otopeni Airport in Bucharest, the largest airport in Romania, registered losses of about 400,000 euros (540,000 dollars) during the weekend.

Taking into consideration the traffic as well as the share TAROM holds on the air market, other operators also registered losses of about 7 million euros (9.45 million dollars) on local markets.

The losses could exceed 20 million euros when adding the losses on Friday.

The entire Romanian airspace had been shut since Saturday evening due to the volcanic ash cloud caused by the Icelandic volcanic eruption, but it was partly reopened on Monday.

Source: Xinhua