Romanian airspace to be partially closed starting 3 a.m. on Saturday,Transportation Ministry informs

“The ash cloud will affect Romania's airspace starting 3 a.m. on Saturday, so the ministry decided to close the north-western sector,” said Anton, adding the airports in Baia Mare, Satu Mare, Oradea and probably Cluj will be shut down.

The official declared earlier today the Transportation Ministry is monitoring the evolution of the volcanic ash cloud.

Romania's National Meteorological Administration (ANM) and the international center of warnings for aviation estimate the ash cloud generated by the volcano eruption in Iceland will not affect Romania, but it will get close to the country's north-western region on Saturday.

As many as 59 flights were canceled on the Henri Coanda international airport in Otopeni and other 15 on the Aurel Vlaicu airport in Baneasa, because of the volcanic ash cloud. Also, five flights from the airport in Cluj were called-off and other two from the airport in Timisoara.

Romania's state-owned airline Tarom canceled flights to and from Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Riga, while Air France delayed flights to and from Paris. British Airways called off flights to and from London, Lufthansa those to and from Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Munchen, Finnair to and from Helsinki and KLM to and from Amsterdam.

Lot called-off the flights heading and coming from Warsaw, CSA canceled flights to and from Prague, Austrian Airline those to and from Vienna and Malev to and from Budapest.

Romania's largest low-cost airline Blue Air canceled flights to and from London, Dublin, Paris, Vienna and Brussels, while Wizz Air postponed flights to and from London and Dortmund. Germanwings called-off the flights heading and coming from Stuttgart.