An airline industry organization revealed that more than $1.7 billion were lost in revenue by Airlines, for a cloud of volcanic ash grounded flights for six days over most of northern and central Europe. The organization has requested Governments to compensate carriers and loosen regulations.

Giovanni Bisignani, Director General of the International Air Transport Association said, "It is an extraordinary situation exaggerated with a poor decision-making process by national governments. The airlines could not do business normally. Governments should help carriers recover the cost of this disruption".

The passenger care regulations should be changed, which hold airlines liable for stranded passengers' hotel bills, meals as well as telephone calls.

About 29% of the global aviation is impacted by the crisis and about 1.2 million passengers were affected, according to IATA. Eurocontrol shared that more than 95,000 flights had been canceled between last Thursday and Tuesday.

IATA estimated that airlines lost $400 million in revenue per day, when the disruption caused by the ash cloud was at its greatest from April 17 to April 19. Bisignani opined that this crisis is distressing indeed, for such an industry that lost $9.4 billion last year and was predicted to lose a further $2.8 billion in 2010.