THE ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano is costing air carriers US$200 million plus a day, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
But despite a four or five fold rise in freight costs, some analysts say the cloud will not remain long over Europe and economic losses will be small.
"The overall impact should be limited even if the problem persists for a day or more," said IHS Global Insight chief UK and European economist Howard Archer in a research note.
"Unless the cloud disrupts flights continuously for weeks, threatening factories' supply chains, economists do not think it will significantly slow Europe's shaky recovery from recession or affect second-quarter gross domestic product figures," said the Reuters report.
Many airports in the UK, Scandinavia, France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands were closed, reported London's International Freighting Weekly. With the cloud moving south, more countries are likely to be impacted.
As a result of the disruption to air traffic between Europe and the US, a cargo backlog may develop, said Doug Overett, managing director of forwarders SBS Worldwide as carriers refuse cargo because warehouses are full. Cargo congestion may slow air operations even after the dust clears.
Sharon Wright, European director for air freight consolidator AMI, said many air carriers were still taking bookings, expecting or hoping the cloud will soon disperse.
Source : HKSG, 19.04.10.
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