Ash Cloud From Iceland Volcano Keeping Airports Closed

A board announcing canceled flights is seen on April 18, 2010 at Orly airport, near Paris. Many airports remained closed due to the ash cloud from a volcanic eruption in Iceland which has paralyzed air travel throughout Europe. Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images

Airports in Europe are still reluctant to open their airstrips due to the lingering ash cloud created by Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Travelers attempting to travel in and out of major airports in regions such as the UK, France, Germany, and Russia have been affected.

Various European airlines have been flying empty planes through the ash cloud as test runs hoping to convince airline officials that the conditions are clear enough for take off and landing. Air France-KLM Group and Deutsche Lufthansa AG have both run test flights, with KLM planning to do nine more rounds, reported Business Week.

A multitude of airports have canceled flights until Monday morning due to limited visibility caused by the abnormally dark nature of the ash cloud.

Current closures include Prague’s Ruzyne airport, Brussels airport in Belgium, Denmark’s Copenhagen airport, and Finland’s Helsinki-Vantaa airport. All will be closed until Monday morning or later.

France has limited air travel options at Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Le Bourget with planes arriving, but no departures.

Germany has canceled flights in Hamburg, Bremen, Hanover, Muenster/Osnsabrueck, Dusseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Frankfurt, Berlin-Tegel and Berlin-Schoenefeld. Budapest’s Ferinhegy International Airport is closed in Hungary along with Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in Netherlands. Norway’s Oslo Airport is also closed, along with Poland’s Fryderyk Chopin airfield, and John Paul II Airport in Krakow..

Sweden’s Stockholm-Arlanda airport is closed and Switzerland’s Federal Office of Civil Aviation has shut down all Swiss airspace. Russia’s Sheremetyevo airport has a variety of canceled flights and National Air Traffic Services in the UK has closed British flight zones until further notice, reported Bloomberg.com.

This recent batch of airport closings is the largest in history since World War II. The eruptions from the volcano under the glacier known as Eyjafjallajökull started on March 20th and recurred on the 17th of April. The first eruption caused an evacuation of thousands of Icelandic citizens. The second eruption has created extensive clouds of smoke and ash that are currently plaguing a large portion of Europe.