British Airways today (April 19) called for the EU and the UK government to compensate it for lost revenue from the ban on flights caused by the cloud of volcanic ash over Europe.
The UK carrier said it estimated its daily losses through the ban were £15m-20m.
This included lost revenue from passengers and cargo and the cost of supporting stranded and delayed passengers.
Airline ceo Willie Walsh called it an "unprecedented" situation which was having a "huge impact on customers and airlines alike"
BA, along with other airlines has been effectively grounded by NATS, the UK air traffic body since 11am on Thursday, April 15.
NATS has said that the earliest the restrictions will be lifted will be 1am tomorrow.
But it s plans to issue a further statement around 3pm today.
Walsh said: "To assist us with this situation, European airlines have asked the EU and national governments for financial compensation for the closure of airspace.
"There is a precedent for this to happen as compensation was paid after the closure of US airspace following the terrorist events of 9/11 and clearly the impact of the current situation is more considerable.
"We welcome the EU's initiative to address the economic consequences of the airspace closure on the air travel industry and the wider European economy.
"We are also in touch with the UK government which has set up a group to work on this issue as it recognises the impact on airlines and the contribution that aviation makes to the British economy."
In its statement BA said it had "significant funding available to it to sustain a considerable period of closure of the UK's airspace.
"At the start of the flying restrictions on April 14, 2010 it had more than £1.7bn of cash and more than £400m available credit lines which it can draw on if necessary."
www.ba.com www.nats.co.uk