Swedes stranded at the popular tourist destination as seven airports have been shut in the Canaries and mainland Spain.

• All Spanish airports reopened Wednesday
• 180 flights to Canaries and Spain cancelled
• SAS – All ash and no cash

Volcanic ash from Iceland forced the shutdown on Tuesday of four airports in the Canary islands and three in the south of mainland Spain, the Spanish air traffic control agency Aena said.

Spanish air authorities had shut seven airports but at midday only airports on the Canary Island of La Palma, and at Seville and Jerez in southern Spain were still shut down. In all, some 161 flights were cancelled

Fritidsresor, one of Sweden's largest charter companies, postponed the departure of two flights to Gran Canaria, affecting some 500 passengers. The airplanes were also to carry the same amount of passengers back to Sweden later the same day.

"The planes were supposed to leave today, but they have been delayed. We are following the development hour-by-hour", Fritidsresor spokesperson Peter Hellström told The Swedish Wire, adding that the company keeps in contact with the passengers via sms.

Charter company Ving has two departures on Wednesday and urges all passengers to have their mobile phones switched on so they can be reached and informed about the situation.

The Canaries have for decades lured Swedes with their sunny beaches and grand hospitality. Still today around a half million Swedish tourists travel to the Spanish islands every year, which is quite a few compared to the country's total population of 9 million.

Both airports on Tenerife, plus those on La Palma and La Gomera, suspended operations at 4:00 am (0300 GMT), while those in Seville, Jerez and Badajoz shut down two hours later.

"We do not know when they could reopen," an Aena spokeswoman told AFP, a day after the drifting cloud of ash led to restrictions on flying through Spanish airspace, but no airport closures.

Fritidsresor's parent company TUI Travel , Europe’s largest tourism company, has been hit hard by the air traffic chaos, it said Monday. Operating profit will be reduced by about 90 million pounds because of canceled holidays, as well as the cost of looking after stranded customers and getting them home, Bloomberg wrote.

The volcanic ash cloud may have cost the travel industry more than 1.5 billion dollar, according to Peter Long, the head of TUI Travel.