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Even as India's airlines were struggling to get back to normalcy after weathering the global recession, the volcanic ash from Iceland has given the industry another jolt while also affecting the country's exports.

A cloud of volcanic ash grounded a record number of flights in northern and central Europe Sunday, as repercussions continued around the world.

Already exporters are not able to draw enough demand for goods from the key export markets due to the massive financial slowdown, which has hurt many big economies adversely in the last one year. In addition, the unprecedented four-day shutdown of European airspace continued to wreak havoc, as the volcano near the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier in southern Iceland went on spewing ash and many countries have either canceled, delayed or extended bans on flights.

Many international airlines, including Indian carriers, have either cancelled or rescheduled their flights to north European destinations following volcanic ash clouding the flight path, a top Air India official said on Friday.

The cloud of volcanic ash over Europe is beginning to thin and a number of countries have been able to reopen their airspace, European air traffic control body Eurocontrol said Monday.