Ash shuts down European airspace

Rising volcanic activity prompted Britain's Civil Aviation Authority on Monday to ground flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports until 7:00 am BST.

A no-fly zone has also been imposed in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, in the Irish Republic, flights in and out of Dublin have been suspended until at least noon.

The UK has warned that flight restrictions are likely to continue until at least Tuesday.

Dutch aviation officials have also imposed new flight limitations over the Schiphol Amsterdam and Rotterdam airports from 6:00 am (0400 GMT) to 2:00 pm Monday.

The closure of Europe's busiest airports has already stranded tens of thousands of people at the beginning of the work week.

The fresh restrictions have been announced amid safety fears for passengers and crew over the dense ash cloud moving in from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

Last month the volcanic eruptions turned Europe into a virtual no-fly zone, closing airspace across the continent for six days straight.

The shut-down cancelled more than 100,000 flights to, from and within Europe, stranding an estimated 10 million passengers across the world.

It also cost the international airline industry some $1.7 billion.

Source: presstv.ir