Almost 100% of Europe flights are scheduled to fly Thursday, just one week after an Iceland volcano erupted. Europe airports reopened Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to a limited number of flights, and approximately 80% of regularly scheduled flights were flying Wednesday, according to Eurocontrol.
Airports in the United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, Ireland and Germany are open again. Danish, Swedish and Finnish airports are expected to reopen Wednesday or Thursday. Many European airports have been closed for a week after a volcano in Iceland erupted and created a massive ash cloud that hovered over Europe.
Not all flights are being scheduled in every airport, there are some restrictions and they are specific to the individual airport. Wednesday, most of the longer flights were moving in and out of Europe, and a lower percentage of shorter flights are open.
Hundreds of thousands of travelers that need to be rescheduled and the airlines have asked for patience when rescheduling flights. Travelers around the world are happy that although limited, flights are moving in and out of Europe.
It is estimated that the airline loss over the past week is at $1.7 billion through Tuesday according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Last Wednesday, the Iceland volcanic eruption created a massive ash cloud that has hung over Europe for the past six days. The volcano occurred below the glacial ice in Iceland and the cold water chilled the lava very quickly and created small pieces of glass that were carried up into the ash cloud. It is dangerous for airplanes to fly in these conditions, so tens of thousands of flights in and out of Europe were cancelled over the last week.
To see incredible photos of the massive Iceland ash cloud, click here.
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Sources: Reuters and CNN
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