Airlines should receive compensation from European governments to avoid them collapsing under the financial strain caused by the volcanic ash crisis, aviation experts have said.

Gatwick and other airports were hit again yesterday after clouds from the erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano drifted across UK airspace.

About 100 flights were cancelled and no incoming flights were allowed to land for most of Monday morning.

Although restrictions were lifted by 11am, the financial impact caused by delays and cancellations continues to mount and no one knows when the crisis may end.

Under EU rules, airlines must pay for food and accommodation costs for passengers stranded because of the ash.

This has left many with multimillion- pound bills at a time when they are already struggling with high fuel costs and the downturn in consumer spending.

Aviation expert Chris Tarry, of consultancy CTAIRA, said the EU might have to step in to stop airlines from going under.

He said: “The eruption has begun to have a meaningful impact on a number of airlines.

“Indeed, European airlines are already destined to be the last to recover from the downturn.

For most, the ash cloud will make the recovery trajectory slower and lower but for a number it may be the event that pushes them over the edge.”

Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of Cadia, the Gatwick Diamond business association, said: “This is totally unexpected and is having a dramatic commercial impact on businesses that employ vast amounts of people and are vital to the country.

“The industry would like to see some of the money that gets put into the EU come back to support business.

“The compensation has to come from somewhere and if it does not come from the public it will come from people paying higher air fares, which could affect demand.”

Emirates, which operates several daily flights from Gatwick, said it lost $10 million a day at the height of the crisis last month.

The losses tarnished good news from the Dubai-based carrier’s financial results, which revealed profits increased 248% to $1.1 billion in the past financial year.

Tim Clark, president of Emirates, said: “The scale of this crisis is unlike anything I have experienced in my career.

“The longer it continues, the more complex the recovery process becomes.

“These are losses which are coming straight out of our own pocket but despite this not being a crisis of our own making, we are doing everything possible to minimise the impact on customers.”

Aspokesman for Gatwick said the airport lost about £1 million a day when it was forced to shut last month.

He added that it was “too early to say” how much the latest disruption had cost.