AMSTERDAM - Flights from large parts of Europe were set to resume on Tuesday under a deal to free up airspace closed by a huge ash cloud, but strengthened eruptions from an Icelandic volcano threatened to unravel the plans. British air traffic controllers warned a new ash cloud was headed for major air routes, prompting British Airways to cancel its short-haul flights, while several countries either closed airports anew or curtailed use of their airspace. Poland, which had reopened four airports on Monday, closed them again yesterday, as well as shutting the northern part of its airspace to transit flights, citing the ash cloud. Hungary closed part of its western airspace below 6,000m (20,000ft) due to higher amounts of volcanic ash, its air traffic authority said, and Ireland said the renewed eruption of the Icelandic volcano on Monday, and prevailing weather conditions, forced it to extend its airspace closure. Britain's biggest airports remained closed, and even where flights resumed, at the Edinburgh and Glasgow airports in Scotland, the service was limited. "It's really just Scottish domestic flights, maybe a couple of international ones, there's one going to Iceland -- yes, it's ironic, isn't it?" said Glasgow airport information officer Steven Boyle. Details remained sketchy of how the authorities would split European airspace into areas where aircraft could fly or not and other countries were adopting a more cautious approach. "The volcano eruption in Iceland has strengthened and a new ash cloud is spreading south and east toward the UK," NATS, Britain's National Air Traffic Services, said in an overnight statement. "This demonstrates the dynamic and rapidly changing conditions in which we are working." Dutch Transport Minister Camiel Eurlings promised that the Netherlands was "taking a lead" in getting Europe moving, but said its airspace could be closed again if ash levels rose. Airlines had declared numerous test flights problem-free over the past days, but experts disagree over how to measure the ash and who should decide it is safe to fly. A British Airways jet lost power in all four engines after flying through an ash cloud above the Indian Ocean in 1982. France said it was reopening some airports to create air corridors to Paris. Italian airspace opened yesterday. Eurocontrol said it expected up to 9,000 flights to have operated in Europe on Monday, a third of normal volume. "The scale of the economic impact (on aviation) is now greater than 9/11, when US airspace was closed for three days," International Air Transport Association (IATA) head Giovanni Bisignani said.
