Ash closes main Dutch airports

Iceland volcano ash closes main Dutch airports

Ash clouds from an erupting Iceland volcano forced the closure of Amsterdam's Schiphol airport and those in Rotterdam and Groningen until 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) Monday, Dutch officials said.

Two other airports, at Eindhoven and Maastricht, were open.

"Until 2:00 pm local time there will be no air traffic from and to Amsterdam and Rotterdam", whose airports have been closed since 6:00 am (0400 GMT), as well as Groningen, which closed at 8:00 am (0600 GMT), air traffic control spokeswoman Marjolein Wenting told AFP.

The decision was based on information from the Dutch meteorological service, she said earlier.

The ash clouds are over "the western part of the country and are moving slowly east", she added.

All 500 flights scheduled at Schiphol, the Netherlands' main air hub, were cancelled until 2:00 pm (1200 GMT), airport spokeswoman Antoinette Spaans told AFP, leading to disruptions for 60,000 passengers.

Travellers at the airport were asked to return home.

-News courtesy of Channel Newsasia-