According the International Air Transport Association (IATA), airlines have lost over $1.7 billion in revenues since the volcano blast in southern Iceland, causing cancellations of flights to Europe.


The airlines lost the most from April 17 to 19, when there was the most disruptions in air services. They were losing revenues of $400 million per day in those days.


"Lost revenues now total more than $1.7 billion for airlines alone. At the worst, the crisis impacted 29% of global aviation and affected 1.2 million passengers a day. The scale of the crisis eclipsed 9/11 when US airspace was closed for 3 days," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.


He also warned that the volcano crisis could put a loss of record $2.2 billion this year for the European carriers.


The global aviation industry incurred loss of $9.4 billion in 2009 due to the economic crisis. However, the industry was forecast to lose $2.8 billion in 2010.