Volcanic ash cloud: Where is it today?

The volcanic ash cloud from Iceland thinned out and has shrunk considerably over the past two days, freeing up flights and allowing airports to reopen across Europe and north Africa. But there are still some delays in Spain and Turkey.

Eurocontrol’s May 13 mapping (pdf download) of the ash cloud shows something like a Finland-sized boomerang coming off the east coast of Iceland, which is actually quite small compared to earlier this week.

IN PICTURES: Iceland volcano

The cloud was larger than all of Europe on the European flight monitor's May 11 map (pdf download), interfering with the airspace of Spain, Morocco, and Turkey.

At the source of the ash cloud – Eyjafjallajökull volcano itself – scientists on Wednesday recorded that the ash plume had slightly decreased, according to the daily report from the Icelandic Meteorological Office and Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland,

Eurocontrol’s Central Flow Management Unit (CFMU) provides an up-to-the-minute breakdown on the total number of flights in the air, already landed, and still expected to pass through European airspace on May 13. Of about 26,500 flights expected today, CFMU estimated a 3.3-minute delay per flight.

All 10 previously closed airports in Morocco had reopened by Wednesday.

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