they simply were not prepared to take the risk. European airspace was declared a no-fly zone, resulting in nearly 100,000 flights being cancelled. Millions of people across the world were affected, from hoildaymakers who had no way of getting home to businessmen who had to cancel meeting after meeting. The cost to the airline industry was over one and a half billion US dollars. In Iceland, the cost of road repairs alone is said to be around one million dollars.