Flights from Moscow resumed on many European routes Tuesday, after thousands of passengers were grounded over the past five days because of the ash cloud caused by the eruption of an Icelandic volcano.
As of midday Tuesday, a total of 33,826 people had been unable to fly out of Russian airports on schedule, and 531 flights had been canceled, the Transportation Ministry said. At Sheremetyevo Airport, 308 flights were canceled and 127 delayed.
The cancellations have caused European airlines to sustain heavy losses as they wait for the smoke to clear. Aeroflot has canceled about 28 percent of its total flights, losing $2.4 million per day in revenue, or a total of $12 million for the past five days, VTB Capital said in a research note. Transaero has lost 18 million rubles to 20 million rubles ($620,000 to $690,000) from April 15 to April 19 because of the disrupted air service, CEO Olga Pleshakova said Tuesday.
This has led to repercussions for the tourist industry as well. Russians have canceled as much as 30 percent of all May holiday tours to Europe, most of which were pushed back to later in May, Russian Tourism Union spokeswoman Irina Tyurina said, Interfax reported.
But since many Russians take their vacations a week before May to avoid high holiday prices, there would be many more Russians stuck in Europe if the eruption had happened now, she said, adding that most Russian tourists are stranded in the Czech Republic, France and England.
The inability to fly to Europe forced UralChem to postpone the roadshow for its initial public offering, which is scheduled for the end of April. Company representatives could not fly to meetings with potential investors in London because of the disruption in air travel, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the situation. The fertilizer holding is looking to raise up to $642 million, and the roadshow has been pushed back to the end of this week at the earliest, the report said.
Not everyone lost out because of the delays, however. Railways marked an increase in travelers over the period, as did taxi services. Liga Taxi said some had even booked taxis from St. Petersburg to Munich, adding that 21 cars were sent to European cities, mostly Helsinki.