Ash clouds shut down Turkish airspace

Days after a volcanic eruption in Iceland disrupted air traffic across a wide swathe of Europe, the massive ash cloud has reached Turkey.

Turkish airspace in three provinces — Zonguldak, Sinop, and Samsun — above the Black Sea was shut down on Sunday. The Turkish Directorate of Civil Aviation issued a statement advising planes plying that route to fly above an altitude of 35,000 feet.

"The volcanic ash cloud has begun affecting the airspace of our country," said the statement. The airspace over the three Black Sea provinces will be closed until 0900 GMT Monday, it added.

Directorate of Civil Aviation Ali Ariduru announced that the ash cloud would most probably affect the airspace over Istanbul from Monday, disrupting international air traffic.

The towering fountain of ash from the Icelandic volcano has grounded flights across Europe since Thursday, leaving thousands of tourists stranded in Turkey — a major holiday destination for Europeans.

The enforcement of a no-fly ruling across Europe is believed to have caused the worst air travel chaos since the September 11 terror attacks in the US.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123729§ionid=351020204.