Which Airlines Are Being Affected By Grimsvotn?

Grimsvotn, Iceland's most active volcano,

and is playing havoc with European travel, particualrly air travel, as ash clouds rise, and threaten to shut down airports. Last year, air travel was affected by another Icelandic volcano, and air travel was affected for six days. Dark plumes of smoke were shooting 12 miles into the sky, and it's not yet known where and when air travel will be affected. "It's too early to tell if Europe will be affected. What's certain is that when it is affected, there will be flight cancellations," French Transport Minister Thierry Marianai told Europe 1radio. For right now, there are no cancellations of any flights outside of Iceland. However, airlines as far away as Australia are watching the situation very closely. The concern here is that particles from the volcanic cloud could cause accidents by getting into the aircraft engines. Icelandic met office forecaster Teitur Arason said to Reuters, "The winds high in the air, above 25,000 feet or thereabout, are southeasterly, so that ash is blown to the north and then later to the east," he said. "But at lower levels, the winds are northerly and therefore those ashes are blowing southward." Names like Lufthansa, Air France and Scandinavian SAS are falling sharply in European trade, which could potentially be a good shorting opportunity for traders, until the situation in Iceland is settled. Other names that are likely to fall here in North America trade are Delta Airlines

, and United Continental Holdings, Inc.

. "It could lead to some disruption, but only for a very limited time and only over a very limited area," said University of Iceland Professor of Geophysics Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson in comments to Reuters. "We see some signs that the (eruption's) power is declining a bit, but it is still quite powerful."