Finnish officials say to briefly open 2 airports

HELSINKI, April 19 (Reuters) - Finland's airport managing group Finavia said airspace over two of the Nordic country's smaller airports would be opened for six hours on Monday thanks to gaps in the cloud of ash spewed by an Icelandic volcano.

It said the decision meant flights could operate from the southwestern city of Turku and the central city of Tampere between midday and 6 p.m. (0900-1500 GMT).

"According to current estimates the ash cloud will remain over the southernmost parts of Finland for Monday, so Helsinki-Vantaa airport will remain closed," Finavia said in a statement.

Separately, national carrier Finnair (FIA1S.HE) told news agency STT it would try to arrange one flight from New York to Tampere, and was also checking if some charter flights could use the opened airports.

Finnair said on Friday the enforced shutdown was costing it some 2 million euros ($2.80 million) a day.

(Reporting by Brett Young)