^{Monday 19th April 2010}

As the disruption caused by the Icelandic volcanic eruption continues this week, equities around the world have been hit as investors remain concerned over the already fragile industry.

The International Air Transport Association said that the economic impact of the volcano shutting down European Airspace could potentially be greater than that of 9/11.

Since the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted last Wednesday prompting widespread airport closures through Europe, British Airways shares have lost 6.8%, leading the decliners on the FTSE 100 board in London by losing 3.6%. In Germany, Lufthansa shares declined 5.7%, in France, Air France-KLM has lost 4.6% and in Spain, Iberia shares have fallen 4.6%.

Ryanair have been the worst affected airline with shares dropped by more than 9% in Ireland since Wednesday.

Tour operators have also been hit with Tui Travel, the largest travel group in Europe, announcing that 100,000 customers have been stranded abroad since Sunday. The group’s shares have declined 2.5%, while Thomas Cook dropped 3.4%.

However, analysts predict that the declines should turnaround once the ash clears and flights slowly return to normal.

Currently, UK airspace remains closed until at least 0100 Tuesday morning, Spain have offered to let Britain and other European countries use its airports as stopovers and Germany is testing the affect the ash has on aircrafts.

It is estimated that airlines could be losing as much as £25 million a day.