Limited flights resume in European airspace blocked for days by ash

Flights resume in European airspace blocked by ash

PARIS — Limited flights are resuming at Paris airports and Switzerland has reopened its airspace after five days blocked by ash from Iceland’s volcano.

The first commercial flight out of Charles de Gaulle since Thursday is heading to New York’s JFK Airport. Others are scheduled for San Francisco, Algiers and other faraway destinations.

Only a few flights are being allowed in and out of France on Tuesday, and European officials say it will take several days for regular traffic to resume.

Switzerland reopened its entire airspace to regular traffic Tuesday. Authorities said test flights had show the concentration of ash in the atmosphere had reduced considerably and posed no risk to air travel.