Volcanic Ash Plume Exits Romanian Airspace Tuesday

The ministry also said that, according to data from the country’s weather authority, air pollution from the ash plume will not exceed allowed levels over the next 24 hours.

The ministry said it constantly monitors, via the weather authority and the national environment protection agency, both the trajectory of the ash plume and the concentration of ambient air particles.

Catalin Radu, head of the civil aviation department with the Romanian Transport Ministry, said Romania’s airspace was not closed Monday, when the ash plume reached the country’s western region, as the plume shifted course over night and moved further away from Europe.

The volcano, located under a glacier about 120 kilometers southeast of the capital Reykjavik, started erupting last month and wrought travel chaos across Europe for nearly a week as authorities grounded aircrafts due to a cloud of ash.

Spain, Portugal, northern Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic have closed their airspace Monday.