European countries close airspace due to volcanic ash cloud - Facts

Air traffic was disrupted across Europe Friday as a volcano eruption in Iceland sent a cloud of ash across much of the continent, forcing countries to close down their airspace.

Following is a list of air traffic disruptions in various countries:

AUSTRIA: Austria's northern airspace will close from 1700GMT on Friday.
The airports of Vienna, Salzburg and Linz will close from 1800GMT, with other airports in the south following later in the evening. The airports of Graz and Klagenfurt would be kept open as long as possible.

BELGIUM: Belgian airspace is closed until 0800 GMT Saturday.

BRITAIN: British airspace is closed until 0600 GMT Saturday but restrictions in the north have been eased to allow some transatlantic flights to resume.
Several flights permitted Friday until 1800 GMT in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

BULGARIA: Sofia airport cancelled most of its scheduled flights Friday.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Airspace closed.

DENMARK: Danish airspace is closed until 0000 GMT Saturday.

ESTONIA: Estonian airspace closed until at least 0000 GMT Saturday.

FINLAND: All commercial flights are grounded until 1200 GMT Sunday at the earliest.

FRANCE: Twenty-three airports in northern France are closed until 1800 GMT Friday, including the Paris area airports of Charles de Gaulle, Orly and Le Bourget. A small number of planes however were allowed to land at Paris airports between 1000 GMT and 1400 GMT.

GERMANY: Flights halted at Frankfurt airport, although it was not formally closed. Flights were also grounded at airports in Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Hamburg and Hanover, among other airports.

HUNGARY: Airspace to close from 1700 GMT Friday.

ICELAND: Airports remain open.

IRELAND: Nearly all of Irish airspace has reopened, including the airports in Dublin, Shannon and Cork. Only the area off the southern coast remains closed.

LATVIA: Airspace closed until 0600 GMT Saturday.

LITHUANIA: Airspace has reopened but air traffic control was leaving the decision whether or not to fly up to individual companies.

NETHERLANDS: Dutch airspace closed until 0400 GMT Saturday.

NORWAY: Flights were allowed from 0700 GMT in the northern half of Norway Friday, for a limited time window.

POLAND: Most of Polish airspace is closed, including Krakow airport where scores of foreign heads of state and government are expected to attend Sunday's funeral of President Lech Kaczynski, which is still schedueld to go ahead.

ROMANIA: Romanian northwest airspace to close at 0000 GMT Saturday.

RUSSIA: Russian airspace remains open. The airport in Kalinigrad, the Russian enclave between Poland and Lithuania, has been temporarily closed.

SLOVAKIA: Slovakian airspace closed at 1300 GMT on Friday and is expected to last until 2159 GMT Sunday.

SWEDEN: Sweden started to gradually open up airspace in the sparsely populated north at 0600 GMT, but authorities said restrictions would remain for the rest of the country until further notice.

SWITZERLAND: Swiss airspace closed until 0700 GMT Saturday.

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