BAA takes £6m hit each day volcano keeps flights off

Airports operator BAA is losing between £5 million and £6 million a day because of the grounding of flights in the UK as the Icelandic volcano continues to erupt.

The Spanish-owned company which runs Heathrow and Stansted, as well as smaller regional airports, said Scottish airports reopened this morning but it was still awaiting news about when its airports in the South-East might be cleared for flights.

"We are working closely with National Air Traffic Services, airlines, regulatory authorities and the UK Government to get passengers flying again and ensure our airports are ready to resume operations at short notice. The safety of passengers remains our highest priority," it said.

Unlike a number of airlines yesterday, BAA made no call for compensation from the Government. It also said that with cash and unused bank borrowing facilities of more than £2.2 billion, its regulated airports Heathrow and Stansted were in no danger of breaching their banking covenants.

It said that any losses incurred could be partly offset by extra flights repatriating travellers who have been stuck abroad and by what it called "reductions in operating costs".

Over the Irish Sea, Aer Lingus said the grounding of its aircraft since last Thursday will have cost its between 15 million (£13.2 million) and 20 million (£17.6 million) with daily losses running at between 4 million (£3.5 million) and 5 million (£4.4 million). It said that by the end of yesterday 1,100 flights had been cancelled.