"Since the beginning of the eruption, we estimate that 250 million cubic metres (8.8 billion cubic feet) of tephra (ash and other fragmental material) has been produced," Icelandic geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson told AFP.

The eruption, which began on April 14, had peaked three times, he said: "in the first four days of the eruption, then on May 5 and 6, and again last Friday."

On Sunday, Icelandic volcanologist Bjoern Oddsson, said volcanic activity had increased slightly since Friday.

"The column (of smoke) has increased and rises up to eight kilometres," he told AFP, as opposed to six kilometres in previous days.

Gudmundsson stressed that the ongoing Eyjafjoell blast "is a big eruption," adding that for Iceland it was "the biggest since the notorious eruption at (the neighbouring and much larger volcano) Katla in 1918."

"There is really no way of telling when it will stop. There has been quite a bit of earthquake activity underneath Eyjafjallajoekull (the glacier covering the volcano), which means that magma is still emerging," Gudmundsson said.

His comments came as authorities cautioned the volcanic ash cloud would ground 1,000 flights in Europe on Monday with airports in Britain and the Netherlands hit.

Domestic flights in Iceland were also disrupted Monday morning and international flights could be impacted later in the day, aviation officials said.

"The domestic airport in Reykjavik is closed, but those in Akureyri and Egilsstadir are still open," Hjoerdis Gudmundsdottir, a spokeswoman for Icelandic aviation authority Isavia, told AFP.

"The international airport in Keflavik is open at the moment but I expect it to close later today as the forecast says the ash will move further north, thus in the way of air traffic routes over Iceland," she said, adding that international flights so far were operating without disruptions.

Volcano ash brings more air travel chaos to Europe
London (AFP) May 17, 2010 - New ash clouds blasted out from Iceland's Eyjafjoell volcano brought fresh travel chaos to thousands of air travellers on Monday as key European airports shut down.

London Heathrow, Europe's busiest air hub, and London Gatwick, were hit with a new round of delays and cancellations following a six-hour overnight shutdown.

Amsterdam, another key air interchange, reopened after a seven-hour closure as the denser part of the ash cloud drifted east.

However, the volcanic eruptions, which peaked again Friday, show no sign of stopping.

Around 1,000 flights in Europe would be cancelled Monday, said Eurocontrol, the intergovernmental agency coordinating air traffic control, saying it expected 28,000 flights to operate in the continent.

"The areas of ash concentration are mainly at low levels. During the course of the day, the current cloud is expected to disperse somewhat," it added, saying it would mainly affect parts of Britain.

Heathrow, and Gatwick, Britain's second-busiest airport, resumed flights at 7:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) and will remain open until at least 7:00 p.m. (1800 GMT), but Heathrow reported some disruption.

"At 1:00 p.m. (1200 GMT), we had 124 departures and 115 arrivals cancelled out of a daily total of 1,300 flights," a Heathrow spokesman told AFP.

"The average delay is around 50 minutes for arrivals and 20 minutes for departures. Things will gradually get back to normal."

From 1200 GMT until at least 1800 GMT Monday, the skies were open across mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.

But airports across the country were slowly recovering from the sporadic shutdowns.

Passengers at Liverpool in northwest England arrived to find their flights were still cancelled, despite the flight ban being lifted for the airport.

"It's been terrible. There's just nothing going," said Margaret Palombella, 55, who was heading to Portugal. "They said I might be able to get away on Wednesday night."

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh criticised the blanket bans on flying, saying they were "a gross over-reaction to a very minor risk".

The disruption had knock-on effects in other countries, with planes stuck in the wrong places.

The latest ash closures came at the beginning of a week where air travel also faced disruption from a five-day strike by British Airways cabin crew set to kick off Tuesday.

In the Netherlands, besides Amsterdam Schiphol, airports in Rotterdam and Groningen reopened after closing temporarily.

Some 500 flights scheduled at Schiphol had been cancelled, leading to disruptions for 60,000 passengers, but airport spokeswoman Marianne de Bie said check-ins had resumed.

The ash clouds were over "the western part of the country and are moving slowly east", Dutch air traffic control spokeswoman Marjolein Wenting told AFP.

In Ireland, Dublin airport reopened at 1100 GMT after a 17-hour shutdown as the cloud moved east. Almost 300 flights were cancelled, disrupting 36,000 passengers, The Irish Times newspaper said.

Regional Irish airports also opened again.

"The outlook for the coming days is positive," said the Irish Aviation Authority.

Domestic Icelandic flights were disrupted earlier Monday and the Keflavik international airport was expected to close later with the ash forecast to blow north.

The Eyjafjoell eruptions, which began on April 14, have peaked three times, with the latest surge of activity coming Friday.

"Since the beginning of the eruption, we estimate that 250 million cubic metres of tephra (ash and other fragmental material) has been produced," Icelandic geophysicist Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson told AFP.

"There is really no way of telling when it will stop... magma is still emerging," he warned.

The volcanic dust at more concentrated levels presents a danger to plane engines, though some industry officials have complained that the safety measures and airport closures have been excessive.

Europe's skies were partially closed for up to a week in April following the eruption of Eyjafjoell, in the biggest shutdown of the continent's airspace for more than 50 years.

The international airline industry body, IATA, has estimated last month's shutdown cost carriers some 1.7 billion dollars (1.4 billion euros).

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