New Ash Cloud Keeps Airports Closed

Overjoyed air travelers made good their escapes from many parts of Europe today, but more ash from Iceland kept the British and Irish earthbound. Poland closed several airports it reopened yesterday as a fresh cloud of ash neared its airspace, Reuters reports. London's airports remain closed, and only a few flights—including one to Iceland—have been able to depart Scottish airports.

The cost to the aviation industry caused by Eyjafjalljokull's eruption has now exceeded that caused by the closure of US airspace after 9/11, according to the head of the IATA. Iceland's president, however, warns that the current disruption is just a "small rehearsal." Katla, Eyjafjallajokull's much larger neighbor, erupts around once a century and the last time was in 1918, he tells the BBC.
(More Katla volcano stories.)