European air traffic back to normal

European air traffic has returned to normal after a week of chaos caused by an ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano which spread across the continent, the EU's transport commissioner said Friday.

"The news is encouraging. For the second day in a row we are expecting 28,000 flights in European air space," said European Union commissioner Siim Kallas.

The ash cloud from the Eyjafjoell volcano hit European airspace last week, paralysing many airports and affecting millions of tourists and business travellers.

The intergovernmental Eurocontrol predicted 29,000 flights would take place Friday after 27,284 across Europe on Thursday.