Aer Lingus, the Irish airline, has announced that the disruption to air travel service as a result of volcanic ash cloud last month has cost it nearly 20m Euros ($26.3m; £17.2m).

However, it revealed that this estimate is just a preliminary one, and the final figure relied on the actual level of customer claims.

All flights in and out of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have been reportedly grounded from 0700 BST.

Aer Lingus has unveiled that it was shutting all its air services to the UK and Europe until 1pm. Rival carrier Ryanair has also reportedly cancelled all its flights to and from the Irish Republic and Belfast from 6am to 2pm.

Aer Lingus has announced that its total revenues for the three months 31 March have marked a squeeze by 1.8%. The operating loss for the quarter reported was 37.8m euros, compared with a deficit of 74.8m for the same three months a year ago.

"While the trading environment remains challenging, early indications on second quarter revenues are positive", the company quoted. "We have limited visibility over the booking profile for [the rest of the year] and our key markets remain subdued".