The volcanic ash disruption continues to have a devastating effect on airports and airlines.

BAA, the owner of two of the UK’s biggest airports – Heathrow and Stansted – announces strong Q1 results, but says that the financial impact of the Iceland volcano ash disruption could top £28 million.

BAA, which also owns Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports in Scotland, as well as Southampton airport, said that it had seen a marginal growth in passenger numbers compared to Q1 in 2009 – up by 1.1% to 18.6 million, with a rise of 3% at Heathrow. Passenger retail spend surpassed expectations with a rise of 10.7%.

The airport operator said its pre-tax losses of £195.5m were substantially lower than in 2009 when it reported a Q1 loss of £316.5m.

Colin Matthews, CEO of BAA, commented: “Heathrow and Stansted delivered a resilient financial performance during the first quarter. Operational performance in the quarter was robust despite enhanced security procedures, extreme winter weather and industrial action at our biggest airline customer.”

BAA says that the recent and ongoing disruption caused by the volcanic ash in the last two weeks has had an unprecedented impact on the industry and says the bill for BAA alone will reach £28m.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said last week that the financial impact on airlines was enormous: “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 three days,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

BA Chief Executive, Willie Walsh, said that the impact of the disruption caused by the volcanic ash was comparable to the terrorist events of 9/11 and as such has pleaded for EU and national government aid.

“This is an unprecedented situation that is having a huge impact on customers and airlines alike. We continue to offer as much support as we can to our customers; however, these are extraordinary circumstances that are beyond all airlines’ control.”

BAA’s CEO was cautious about the future and said that the industry will continue to face significant financial challenges.