photo - east news

Despite reports that the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud is hovering over southern Poland, Monday, airports have remained open.

Airspace over Poland remains open and the situation is unlikely to change in the near future, said Grzegorz Hlebowicz, spokesman for the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency.

Nevertheless, in parts of the country, a special zone has been introduced within which pilots have to be on extra alert for the volcanic ash cloud. The zone covers cities such as Wrocław, Katowice, Kraków and Rzeszów.

Meanwhile, the number of cancelled flights across Europe is three times lower than yesterday. It looks as though the situation will further improve, said Grzegorz Hlebowicz:

 “We have not recorded any increase in difficulties - quite the contrary. The situation is stabilizing and we have no information that it would deteriorate in the coming hours. I want to make it clear that there is no off-limit zone for flights in Poland and, based on accessed data, we do not expect any such zone to emerge," Hlebowicz told Polish Radio.

The ash clouds spewed by Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano has disrupted air traffic in western and central Europe since mid-April. A European-wide ash task force, Eurocontrol, has announced that about 500 of a total of 28,000 flights have been called off across the continent.

The International Air Transport Association estimates that the airline industry has incurred losses of up to 1.7 billion dollars in revenue due to the volcanic crisis. (aba)