Iceland has closed its main international airport after a
volcanic eruption sent a plume of ash, smoke and steam 12 miles
into the air. The airport and air traffic control operator
Isavia said no flights were taking off or landing at Keflavik
airport. A spokeswoman said the ash plume from the Grimsvotn
volcano was covering Iceland, but "the good news is that it is
not heading to Europe". She said it was blowing north-west
toward Greenland instead. She said officials were investigating
whether Iceland's other airports could take Keflavik-bound
flights. Transatlantic flights were being diverted away from
Iceland, and there was no sign yet that the eruption would cause
the widespread travel disruption triggered last year by ash from
the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Grimsvotn, which lies under the
uninhabited Vatnajokull glacier, began erupting on Saturday, for
the first time since 2004. Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at the
University of Iceland, said last year's eruption was a rare
event and Grimsvotn was likely t