Budget airline EasyJet has said that it is facing having to pay out £28m in compensation to customers who were affected by the volcanic ash cloud earlier this year.
They claimed that the crisis, which shut down most of Europe’s airspace for six days, will cost them a total of £65m, which includes both the compensation payments and a further £29m in lost sales and additional expenses.
The compensation payments have to be made according to EU regulation 261, which has been blasted by airlines for giving inconvenienced passengers a ‘disproportionate’ amount of compensation for any delays and cancellations.
It wasn’t all bad news for EasyJet though, as despite April and May’s problems, which resulted in the cancellation of a staggering 7,314 flights, the airline saw still saw an increase in sales of 5.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2009.
New chief executive Carolyn McCall praised the company for a ‘good commercial performance’ despite the problems caused by the volcanic ash crisis and other disruptions – air traffic controllers going out on strike for example.
She added that the company had put a ‘mitigation plan’ in place in response to recent events and hopefully minimise any future impact to passengers and staff.
