The volcanic ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland is continuing to cause disruptions in European airspace, with Air Malta cancelling its Milan flight and Easyjet its trip from Rome yesterday.

Air Malta's other flights continued to operate normally, the national carrier said, warning, however, that "the situation is still a rapidly changing one".

The cloud yesterday also led to the cancellation of a flight from Barcelona by Iberia/Vueling after a lull in the air traffic disruption that grounded airlines across Europe, cancelling 100,000 flights and costing Malta €10 million and 90,000 bed nights.

Airports in Spain, Portugal, France and most of Northern Italy remained closed yesterday morning, and the UK authorities have warned that flights in Ireland and parts of Scotland might also be affected.

The volcanic ash cloud has drifted to the south and the east towards Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland and Northern Italy and Transport Malta has said it was monitoring its effects on flight connections to and from Malta.

"The general drift is eastwards and it is expected to continue to head further east towards the Balkans by the evening," Transport Malta said yesterday.

"Eurocontrol has announced that disruptions to flights may be ex-pected as the volcanic plume, which rises up to 20,000 feet, moves further east. But, so far, the predictions of the position of the area, where volcanic ash may be encountered, indicate that the Malta Flight Information Region may not be affected."

Transport Malta, through its Civil Aviation Directorate, is maintaining a 24-hour watch on developments and Air Malta said it was continuing to closely monitor the airspace and advise passengers via www.airmalta.com of any changes in its flight operations as a result of any restrictions.