European Flights (Almost) Normal

Relax. After seven days, Europe's travel nightmare is nearly over. Ash from the still-erupting Eyjafjallajokull volcano is receding, and flights across Europe should return mostly to normal on Thursday, CNN reports, with the bulk of the continent's 28,000 flights able to take off. The exception is parts of northern Scotland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, where air traffic has been banned due to a new plume of volcanic ash. The ash cloud hanging ominously over Europe created the worst air traffic disruption since the September 11 terrorist attacks, affecting 1.2 million passengers a day at its peak and 29 percent of global air traffic. It was bad news for the industry, which lost more than $2.9 billion in revenue, according to the International Air Transport Association.