Europe, Flights | featured news

The spread of dense ash from the erupting Iceland volcano could force the cancellation of up to 500 commercial flights in Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of Scandinavia, the European air traffic agency said Tuesday.

New eruptions send volcanic ash cloud toward Britain and threaten plans to resume flights.

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.