German major airports closed due to volcanic ash

The Frankfurt airport, Germany's transportation hub, has halted all takeoffs and landings from 8 a.m. (0600 GMT), and it remained unclear when the air traffic would resume, German transport company Fraport, which runs the Frankfurt airport, said in a statement.

Flights were also grounded in the airports of Berlin, Hamburg, Duesseldorf, Hanover, Bremen, Muenster/Osnabrueck and Cologne/Bonn, most located in the north and closed since Thursday.

Arriving flights could switch to some southern airports such as Munich if air conditions are permitted, German air traffic controllers said earlier.

Iceland's erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano would continue to spew ash and smoke to the sky in the next few days. The ash would spread over the European continent and lead to more shutdown of airports, some officials said in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

Until now, the cloud of volcanic ash has unprecedentedly affected air traffic in Europe, as many airports in Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Norway has been closed indefinitely, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.xinhuanet.com