Iceland volcano ash hits European flights again

BRUSSELS - The Icelandic volcano reminded the world again Saturday that it has the power to disrupt international travel - coughing out a new spreading cloud of ash that delayed or canceled hundreds of flights between Europe and North America.

The prospects for many flights today remained grim, as a plume of low-altitude ash continued to float eastward over Spain and southern France.

About 600 airliners make the oceanic crossing every day, and around 40 percent had to be rerouted north over Greenland or south around Spain to avoid the 1,200-mile-long cloud stretching from Iceland to northern Spain.

The disruptions were far less than during the five-day closure of European airspace last month. Then more than 100,000 flights were canceled, stranding passengers around the world and causing airlines direct losses of more than $1 billion.

In Spain Saturday, 19 northern airports, including the international hub Barcelona, were closed.

At least 125 flights in and out of Portugal also were canceled.

Until Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano in southern Iceland, stops its emissions, the prevailing winds will determine how much the rest of Europe is affected by the ash crisis.

The eruption of the glacier-capped volcano has shown no signs of stopping since it began belching ash April 13. It last erupted from 1821 to 1823.

Aer Lingus canceled flights from the United States to Dublin, citing the exceptionally circuitous routes required to get around the cloud.

Eurocontrol's forecast of volcanic activity for early Sunday showed a solid line of cloud extending from Greenland to the Azores and Madeira Islands in the mid-Atlantic, at altitudes up to 35,000 feet - right in the path of most trans-Atlantic flights.