Flights, Iceland Volcano Eruption | featured news

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

European air traffic could return to about 50 percent of normal levels Monday if weather forecasts confirm that skies over half the continent are emptying of the volcanic ash that has thrown global travel into chaos, the European Union said.

The prospects for a return to normal air travel remained far from clear, however.

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.