Grimsvotn volcanic activity stops - Situation back to normal, Eurocontrol says

The aviation situation in the EU is back to normal as the volcanic activity of the Icelandic volcano which erupted last Saturday has now stopped, Eurocontrol said this afternoon.

The news has also been confirmed by the European Commission which said that it is not expecting any further airspace closures and flight cancellations.

Germany was the last EU member state to be hit by the ash cloud this morning when it was constrained to close three main airports in the north of the county grounding some 700 flights.

However, the situation returned to normal later in the day with the German aviation authorities giving the go ahead for flights from Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin airports to resume.

Meanwhile flights from the UK, Scotland and Ireland were also back to normal yesterday after the cancellation of some 500 flights on Tuesday.

A European Commission spokesman said that the EU's response to the Grimsvotn eruption was very well coordinated this time round with close collaboration between the aviation authorities of the EU.

"The guidelines which we have put in place after last year's volcanic eruption found the EU very well prepared to this emergency and very few disruptions have taken place," she said.

The spokesman said that the European emergency aviation cell which has been triggered following last Saturday's Icelandic eruption will keep monitoring the situation over the coming days to ensure safety of European aviation and its passengers.

Following the April 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the EU, along with Eurocontrol and the International Civil Aviation Organisation adopted changes to aviation guidelines to avoid a repetition of the massive air-traffic chaos that followed.

Last year's crisis had stalled European aviation for six-days with more than 100,000 flights cancelled and 10 million passengers stranded.

The changes include doing away with blanket flight bans and giving airlines greater flexibility in assessing the risks of flying.