Airports in Ireland and parts of Britain were closed again for hours on Tuesday because of the cloud of volcanic ash drifting south from Iceland that wreaked havoc on European air travel last month. Flights in much of continental Europe were operating as normal and the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said it would allow flights to resume from Irish airports from 1200 GMT after a closure lasting six hours. However, the IAA said northerly winds forecast for the coming days could bring more clouds of ash from the Icelandic eruption and disruption for passengers this week. “We could be faced with this periodically during the summer,” IAA Chief Executive Eamonn Brennan said. “We are probably facing a summer of uncertainty due to this ash cloud.” The IAA had closed airports from 0600 GMT until 1200 GMT due to risk of ash ingestion in aircraft engines, although overflights of Ireland from Britain and continental Europe had not been banned. Britain's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) said a no-fly zone was in place in the west of Scotland and Northern Ireland, from 0700 (0600 GMT) until at least 1300 (1200 GMT). European flights overall were expected to be at almost normal levels on Tuesday, European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said. On a typical weekday, just under 200 flights would be expected in and out of Ireland, compared with around 28,000 throughout Europe, a spokeswoman said. Earnings hit However, fresh ash from the erupting volcano could cloud airspace over northern Britain for the next few days following a change in direction of the wind, Iceland's meteorological office said. Much of European air traffic was grounded last month because of the spread of ash from an erupting volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland. Some 100,000 flights were cancelled and millions of passengers stranded. The air space closures cost Europe's airlines 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion euros ($2 billion-$3.3 billion), the European Commission has estimated. Former Irish state airline Aer Lingus said that last month's closures lasting several days cut its earnings by about 20 million euros ($27 million), with the final bill dependent on the impact on passengers' longer
