Iceland Volcano, Ash Cloud | 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).

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.

Fifteen Spanish airports will be closed Saturday afternoon because of ash blowing from an Icelandic volcano, aviation officials said.

After two successive days of restrictions due to a plume of volcanic ash, airspace was reopened to all flights.

Airports in Ireland and parts of Britain were closed for hours on Tuesday because of a cloud of volcanic ash drifting south from Iceland that shut European airspace last month and could threaten summer holiday travel.

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.