Iceland, Iceland Volcano | featured news

Meanwhile, some German airports were reopened Wednesday after cancellations due to the cloud of volcanic ash. Bremen has reopened and Hamburg is allowing takeoffs and landings, according to Deutsche Flugsicherung, the German aviation safety agency. Airports in Berlin will resume flights at 2 p.m. local time ( 8 a.m. ET).

Europe's skies were open for business on Wednesday but, with so many planes having been grounded by the volcanic ash from Iceland, it could take days or even weeks to clear the backlog.

<

A huge ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano spreading out across Europe is causing air travel chaos on a scale unseen since the September 11 attacks and costing airlines hundreds of millions of dollars.

As a giant plume of volcanic ash continued across the continent, European authorities said there was no prospect of a return to normal flights until Saturday at the earliest.

Volcanic ash - Iceland - Airport - Volcano - Volcanoes

Civil aviation authorities say flights won't start departing or arriving in Britain until at least Friday morning because of a huge ash cloud spewed by an Icelandic volcano.