Most French airports including international hubs Charles de Gaulle and Orly will stay closed until Tuesday morning due to ash from the Icelandic volcano, France's prime minister said on Sunday.

Francois Fillon said after a government meeting that all airports north of a line between Bordeaux in the southwest and Nice on the south coast would stay closed at least until Tuesday, extending by a day the previous forecast.

"The weather conditions indicate that the situation will still be difficult for several days," Fillon told reporters.

He added however that airports to the south of the line, such as that of the southwestern city of Biarritz, were operating normally.

"We are going to profit from this situation (in the southwest) to re-route a maximum number of flights via these airports, which will allow us to bring home the greatest possible number of our fellow citizens stuck abroad."