IN the ageless contest between man and nature, nature reasserted its primacy for an entire week, crippling air travel around the world and sending shudders through the global economy.

THE radio came on the other morning at 7 o’clock as usual: “We are now facing the end of the world as we know it”. My ears pricked up. I was instantly wide awake. What could this be? An exchange of nuclear weapons? A terrorist attack? A trailer for a new series of Doctor Who?

AER Lingus and Ryanair are bucking the trend as European airlines’ losses are expected to widen to as much as $2.5 billion in 2003, it emerged yesterday.