Jet2 has been left wondering if it will be compensated for the extra costs it suffered due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud which closed UK airspace earlier this year.

The crisis cost the Leeds- Bradford Airport based airline about £3 million through cancelled flights and rescuing stranded passengers.

The airline’s owner, aviation and distribution business Dart Group, said more than 400 flights had been cancelled and the disruption had cost about £350,000 a day.

But fears that airlines might have to carry the cost of the volcanic ash cloud themselves have been raised by new Transport Minister Theresa Villiers.

She told MPs that compensation for airlines affected by the ash cloud “simply may not be affordable”.

Miss Villiers said the Government had not ruled out support but she “would not like to raise false expectations”.

European airlines lost millions of pounds when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted in April and May.

In a Westminster Hall debate on the impact of the ash cloud, Miss Villiers said: “We do appreciate and understand the concerns expressed by the companies hit with an unexpected bill so soon after the recession and so soon after what everyone acknowledges has been a very difficult period for the aviation industry generally.

“The starting presumption is that it is for businesses to meet their own operating risks and legal liabilities.

“Moreover, EU state aid clearance would be needed if assistance were to be given. Even more importantly, the state of the public finances means that such assistance simply may not be affordable.”

Jet2.com said it did not wish to comment.