Ash cloud hits Turkey, Istanbul's airports stay open *updates*
tourismandaviation.com
Massive ash clouds from a volcanic eruption in Iceland have reached Turkey, forcing the shutdown of airspace over three provinces in the country's north, the air authority says.
"The volcanic ash clouds have begun affecting the airspace of our country," the Directorate of Civil Aviation Ali Arıduru said in a statement on monday. Airspace at an altitude between 20,000 and 35,000 feet over the Black Sea provinces of Zonguldak, Sinop and Samsun will be closed till noon wenzday, it said.
For the time being the ash will not likely to affect airspace over Istanbul, Turkey's largest city and the hub of its domestic and international air traffic, and it will stay open without restrictions, directorate head Ali Ariduru told Anatolia news agency.
Europe-wide air turmoil caused by the ash cloud has stranded thousands of foreign tourists in Turkey, a major holiday destination for Europeans, and thousands more have been unable to arrive for scheduled vacations.
On the country's Mediterranean coast, hotels offered extended stays for stranded holiday-makers, with hoteliers, tour operators and airlines jointly picking up the tab, Sururi Corabatir, head of the Mediterranean Hoteliers Union, said in remarks published on Saturday.
Hotels in Istanbul struggled to meet the increased demand for rooms, media reports said, adding that unused compounds at the city's main airport were opened to stranded passengers who were given also blankets and food.