Shares in travel stocks have continued to plummet as companies update the market on expected losses from the cloud of volcano ash that is keeping flights grounded across Europe.

British Airways is in the red after saying it estimates that lost passenger and freight revenue together with the costs incurred supporting passengers is about £15 million to £20 million a day.

The company has significant funding available to it to sustain a considerable period of closure of the UK's airspace. At the start of the flying restrictions on April 14 it had more than £1.7 billion of cash and more than £400 million available credit lines which it can draw on if necessary.

Chief executive Willie Walsh said that the airline and its European peers have asked the EU and national governments for financial compensation, as had happened in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Despite BA sending up a test flight earlier today to assess the dangers of the volcanic ash cloud hovering over Europe and suggesting the air was safe, the share price fell to 230.7p.

Its budget peer easyJet says the cumulative profit impact up to today is around £40 million, representing lost revenues and costs incurred as a result of the disruption.

Meanwhile, investors have been cashing in on Max Petroleum following the announcement that it is abandoning its KZN-2 exploration well after drilling to 1,457 metres but finding no hydrocarbons.

Top 10 trades
Monday 19 April
Source: TD Waterhouse

To order free annual reports of the companies below, please click here.

Buy
1. Royal Bank of Scotland Group, 21.4 per cent
2. Lloyds Banking Group, 19.8 per cent
3. Barclays, 12.7 per cent  
4. Xstrata, 8.2 per cent
5. Kazakhmys, 4.2 per cent
6. British Airways, 3.9 per cent
7. Petropavlovsk, 2.9 per cent
8. Tesco, 2.7 per cent
9. Amtofagasta, 2.6 per cent
10. Aviva, 2.6 per cent

Sell
1. Royal Bank of Scotland, 24.3 per cent
2. Lloyds Banking Group, 16.2 per cent
3. Barclays, 8.9 per cent
4. British Airways, 5.5 per cent
5. Max Petroleum, 4.6 per cent
6. Yell Group, 4.3 per cent
7. Urals Energy, 3.7 per cent
8. Easyjet, 3.4 per cent
9. Xstrata, 3.2 per cent
10. Aviva, 3 per cent