Volcanic Ash Cloud Wreaks Havoc for Car Rental Businesses

The car rental business, a segment of the industry already struck by biggest crisis in its history, is experiencing another blow these days, as the cloud of ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano led to the biggest "no fly" era since the beginning of the second World War.

The problem for car rental companies is very simple: since travelers have no way on reaching their destination these days, it is impossible for them to maintain their reservations and choose to cancel them, leading to important losses for operators.

“It is not currently known when flights from the UK will be able to take off…. which will have a knock on effect for many travellers with car hire bookings. We have already seen a number of cancellations coming through as customers have been unable to make it to their holiday destination," Carrentals.co.uk managing director Gareth Robinson said according to MNS UK.

"We would advise all travellers with car hire bookings who are affected by grounded flights due to the volcanic ash to contact their individual car hire supplier to find out what their policy is on cancellations or delayed pick ups.”

For the future, this wave of cancellations will likely lead to higher prices for renting a car during the summer days, as operators will try to cut their losses. Provided the eruption at Eyjafjallajokull stops by then...

"This is the start of a busy time of year for tourism in Spain and Portugal, and the shortfall in revenue for the car rental companies caused by the flight cancellations will not be welcome. The situation is difficult for the local car rental businesses in tourist resorts around Spain and Portugal which lease cars for the busier periods. These cars will now be parked up, waiting for the return of tourists from Northern Europe," Matt May, Blue Valley Car Hire told pr-canada.net.