German Air Security said Wednesday it has now opened nearly all of German airspace and expects remaining airspace to be opened by noon local time.

Airspace over the cities of Leipzig, Erfurt, Dresden, Muenster and Osnabruck remains closed, the organization said.

Earlier Wednesday, Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) called on German Air Security to move quickly to open additional airspace to flights operated by use of the instrument panel, known as instrument flights. Lufthansa said with weather conditions worsening in Germany, vision flights, during which pilots aren't allowed to fly through clouds, soon wouldn't be an option.

Lufthansa's chief executive, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, said 500 flights are planned for Wednesday and the airline intends to operate as many flights as possible.

Air Berlin PLC (AB1.XE) said its flight schedule has almost returned to normal.

Company Web site: www.dfs.com

www.lufthansa.com

www.airberlin.com

-By April van Ert, Dow Jones Newswires; +49 69 29725 507; april.vanert@dowjones.com