Authorities close 11 German airports including Frankfurt as ash spreads from Iceland’s volcano

Germany closes 11 airports due to volcanic ash

BERLIN — German authorities have halted flights to 11 of the nation’s 16 international airports, including Frankfurt and Duesseldorf, as an ash cloud from Iceland’s erupting volcano moves over Germany.

Germany’s air traffic controllers DFS says the airspace over much of northern and western Germany is closed Friday, and flight patterns have been so severely disrupted it is hard to say when things will get back to normal.

Traffic to airports in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne was also stopped.