Airports re-open

A fresh ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, which forced the closure of airports overnight across Britain, Ireland, and the Netherlands, has moved on, allowing passenger and cargo flights to resume.

London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest, had closed at midnight GMT on Sunday but re-opened hours later under restrictions from the UK's National Air Traffic Service (NATS).

Dutch authorities said Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, Europe's third largest cargo hub and fifth biggest passenger terminus, re-opened ahead of schedule at noon local time on Monday.

Other airports affected by the flight ban included Rotterdam in the Netherlands; Dublin, Sligo and Donegal in Ireland; and Manchester and Liverpool in England. Of those, only Rotterdam has re-opened.

Germany was unaffected by the ash cloud, with authorities saying early on Monday that pollution in German airspace was "weak."

Results of German test flights

A series of tests carried out by Germany's flagship carrier Lufthansa ended on Sunday after a six-hour flight designed to measure volcanic ash concentrations in European airspace.

The tests were conducted with a specially modified Airbus A340-600. The plane flew with a battery of climate research instruments, which collected data from sensors mounted on the plane's fuselage. Results are not expected until later on Monday, at the earliest.

The fresh meteorological data is to be used to help determine the risk for airplanes, should ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano return to central Europe.

Initial results from German aviation officials suggest German airspace will be spared from the ash cloud in the coming week.

Airspace closures controversial

Lufthansa conducted a similar flight on April 20 in the middle of a chaotic week for European air travel.

The initial ash cloud grounded tens of thousands of flights across the continent for nearly a week, leading to the largest airspace shutdown since World War II.

The closure of airspace was widely criticized by airlines who said that not enough data had been collected to justify an outright closure.

British Airways chief Willie Walsh condemned Sunday's airspace closures as a "gross overreaction to a very minor risk." Walsh called for a better approach to dealing with the ash problem.

The travel disruptions cost the airlines millions in lost revenues each day. With the planes grounded, airports likewise suffered financially and tourists and passengers remained stranded for days.

Italy's civil aviation agency has fined Irish airline Ryanair 3 million euros ($3.8 million) for failing to aid passengers stranded during the travel disruptions.

The agency said Ryanair didn't give 178 passengers mandatory assistance such as food, drink and lodgings while stranded in Rome from April 15 to 22.

acb/svs/gb/dpa/AP/Reuters
Editor: Chuck Penfold