Hotel operators in cities with an airport nearby are profiting from the closure of European air space caused by an eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjöll.
Thousands of tourists have been stranded and unable to fly home. While waiting for flights to resume, people suddenly found their room rates going up, and up, and up.
A French travel site, Trivago.fr, compared hotel prices before and after the ash cloud. It found that Milan takes the cake. Room rates in that Italian city rose a whopping 94%, from 119 euros to 231 euros a night. Room rates in London, one of the first cities to ground its flights, increased by 52%, from 156 euros to 237 euros a night.
Berlin makes the top of the list too. There has been an average 67% increase in room rates in that city since the volcanic crisis began. For its part, room rates in Madrid have risen 49% on average. Paris was a bit more reasonable, with an average increase of 33%, 28% in Amsterdam and 14% in Barcelona.
Many travellers are clearly ready to get back home.