Europe: 1,000 flights affected due to volcanic ash

Flight restrictions affecting London's two major international airports - Heathrow and Gatwick - were lifted Monday after a no-fly zone had been imposed due to dense volcanic ash drifting down from Iceland.

Restrictions remained in place in Amsterdam, Northern Ireland and smaller airports on Scottish islands, but charts published by Europe's air traffic control agency said the ash cloud should be gradually breaking up and retreating during the day.

Eurocontrol said 28,000 flights were expected Monday in Europe, about 1,000 less than normal, mainly due to disruptions in Britain and the Netherlands.

Heathrow and Gatwick were operating with delays. Gatwick said it was not accepting any arrivals until early afternoon, but flights were departing. Authorities at Heathrow said arrivals were returning to normal but warned departing passengers to expect delays and advised them to check with their airline before heading to the airport.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, another of Europe's biggest air travel hubs, had to cancel some 500 flights due to the ash cloud, stranding about 60,000 passengers, spokeswoman Antoinette Spaans said.

Schiphol was to remain closed until early Monday afternoon, but by noon passengers had begun checking in for their flights.

In Ireland, Dublin's international airport was to reopen at noon Monday (1100 GMT, 7 a.m. EDT). All other airports in the Irish republic were open, with the exception of Donegal, in the country's northwest, which was to reopen later Monday.

Naviair, which manages Denmark's airspace, said airspace over the North Sea was closed until midnight GMT, forcing airplanes to fly around it, and Faeroe Islands airports were closed.

Germany sent up two test flights Sunday to measure the ash cloud. There was no word yet on the results of those tests.

Germany's air traffic control agency said Monday the latest ash cloud should not affect flights over the country.

"At this time, the concentration of ash above German air space is so low that there are no reductions in air traffic," German Air Traffic Controllers said. "Based on information from the German Weather Service, there is no expected reduction in flight traffic until further notice."

Ash can clog jet engines. The April 14 eruption at Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano forced most countries in northern Europe to shut their airspace between April 15-20, grounding more than 100,000 flights and an estimated 10 million travelers worldwide. The shutdown cost airlines more than $2 billion.

In southern Iceland, there were "no major changes" in activity at the volcano, the Icelandic weather service said late Sunday. It said the ash plume was higher than in previous days because of calm weather.

It said "presently there are no indications that the eruption is about to end."

Airlines complained bitterly over the air space closures last month, calling them an overreaction. The European air safety agency last week proposed drastically narrowing the continent's no-fly zone because of volcanic ash to one similar to that used in the U.S. The proposal still must be approved.

Eurostar, which runs trains between Britain and continental Europe, added four extra trains Monday - an additional 3,500 seats - between London and Paris.

Eyjafjallajokul (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) erupted in April for the first time in nearly two centuries. During its last eruption, starting in 1821, its emissions rumbled on for two years.

Iceland Volcanic Emits New Ash Cloud

A new plume of ash has been emitted by the Icelandic volcano that wreaked havoc on European flights last month.

The Eyjafjoell volcano has surged back to life letting off a cloud of ash measuring up to four miles high.

"The eruption has changed back to an explosive eruption, lava has stopped flowing and most of the magma gets scattered due to explosions in the crater," said a statement from the Icelandic Met Office and Institute of Earth Science.

"The ash plume rises high above the crater and considerable ash fall can be expected in wind direction. No signs of the eruption ending soon."

The move has prompted authorities to consider re-routing transatlantic flights. Ireland has had to shut some airports for the third time this week.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) warned a "massive ash cloud" 1,000 miles long and 700 miles wide was hovering over the Atlantic and drifting into the country's airspace.

"While the northerly winds are keeping the bulk of the cloud out in the Atlantic, the increased size of the cloud is encroaching on Irish airspace along the west coast of Ireland," said the regulator in a statement.

Six airports would be closed until 1.00pm on Friday. Among those shutting down were Shannon and Donegal.

The fresh disruption came after Europe's skies were closed for up to a week last month by the eruption of Eyjafjoell.

It was the biggest aerial shutdown in Europe since World War II, with more than 100,000 flights cancelled and eight million passengers affected.