The Interfax agency has said a Malaysian passenger jet carrying 295 people has crashed in Ukraine.

Airline passengers may face travel disruption over the next two days due to expected strikes across European Air Traffic Control services.

Flights are returning to normal at Dublin Airport this morning following disruptions yesterday as a result of a technical fault at an air traffic control centre in England.

ACTION is needed to kick-start air passenger traffic to and from the “beleaguered” Irish economy.

THE reporting of safety incidents involving aircraft remains “unsatisfactory” in some parts of Europe, according to a European aviation watchdog.

The European air traffic control agency said today that it expects no significant disruption of air traffic as a result of volcanic ash in the next 24 hours.

IRISH airports will remain open for business until at least noon tomorrow as the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud continued to dissipate overnight.

THE latest ash cloud crisis may have been averted — but European airspace regulators and airlines remain on a collision course over the risk to air safety from volcanic emissions.

European airspace could be back to normal tomorrow as ash from the Iceland volcano dissipates rapidly, air traffic control bosses said today.

The air transport industry was beset by confusion and arguments today as passengers braced themselves for days of uncertainty caused by Iceland’s latest volcanic ash cloud.

Volcanic ash could force the cancellation of up to 500 commercial flights in parts of the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, the European air traffic agency said today.

IRISH airline passengers are this morning facing the first ash cloud flight disruptions after Aer Lingus was forced to cancel a dozen flights.

ASH from an erupting Icelandic volcano could reach northern Scotland by tomorrow and parts of Britain, France and Spain by Thursday or Friday if the eruption continues at the same intensity, airlines were warned yesterday.

Libya has declared an immediate ceasefire and promised to stop military operations in a bid to fend off international military intervention.

Muammar Gaddafi's regime has defiantly closed Libya's airspace to all traffic while the West makes plans to enforce a no-fly zone and prevent his forces from attacking rebels.

Libya has closed its airspace to all traffic, reports say.

Heavy overnight snowfall has grounded about 450 flights and caused major delays at German airports.

Spain placed striking air traffic controllers under military authority today and threatened them with jail terms in an unprecedented emergency order to get planes back in the skies and clear chaotic airports clogged with irate travellers.

HEAVY snow and sub-zero temperatures swept across Europe, killing at least eight homeless people in Poland, closing major airports in Britain and Switzerland and causing hundreds of highway accidents.

Heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures have swept across Europe killing at least eight homeless people, closing major airports and causing hundreds of road accidents.

Heavy snow also caused problems in airports across Europe today.

SHANNON Airport is in “utter crisis”, according to a leading airline analyst as latest figures show traffic levels plunging.

Travellers face further problems today as clouds of volcanic ash forced airports to close across Europe and flights to be cancelled.

Further flight disruptions were expected in European airspace today as a plume of volcanic ash snaked its way through southern France, Switzerland and northern Italy, the European air management agency in Brussels said.

Air travellers fighting for refunds and compensation after being stranded by the volcanic ash crisis can use a standard Europe-wide “complaints package” available from today.

THE skies are open for business once again, but for how long is anyone’s guess.

WHEN the volcanic ash cloud covered much of Europe, the only option was to shut down the airspace, because nobody knew what else to do.

SOME airline passengers stranded abroad may not be able to return to Ireland until the middle of next month because of the massive backlog in available flights.

THE number of flights over Europe increased thanks to the changed rules, but disruptions will continue because volcanic ash clouds still hang over much of the continent.

WHEN Icelandic volanco Eyjafjallajökull began spewing its detritus into European airpace last Thursday, the virtual world exploded into a spontaneous hub of activity.

IRISH airports hoped to resume operations early this morning after European transport ministers agreed a response to the volcanic ash travel chaos, estimated to be costing the European aviation industry more than €150 million a day.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is to resume flights from Ireland from 5am tomorrow. However, it will be three to four days before normal operations resume.

Germany’s aviation authority broke the flight deadlock today, granting Lufthansa an exemption to fly 50 long-haul planes carrying 15,000 passengers back home below the cloud of volcanic ash hanging over Europe.

The aviation industry today condemned European transport officials, claiming there has been “no co-ordination and no leadership” in the crisis that has shut down most European airports for a fifth day.

Met Éireann is warning that it could be next Friday before the volanic ash from Iceland clears out of the atmosphere.

Thick drifts of volcanic ash blanketed parts of rural Iceland as a vast, invisible plume of grit drifted over Europe, emptying the skies of planes and sending hundreds of thousands in search of hotel rooms, train tickets or rental cars.

ONE solitary plane took off from Shannon yesterday, while all flights in and out of Cork Airport were shut down.

VOLCANIC ash sifted down on parts of northern Europe yesterday and 17,000 thousand planes stayed on the tarmac to avoid the hazardous cloud as travel chaos engulfed major European cities.

English airspace will remain off limits until 7am tomorrow at the earliest.

Irish airspace, with the exception of a block off the south coast, will continue to operate without restrictions, according to the Irish Aviation Authority.

The National Task Force on Emergency Planning says it is possible that flights may not operate in or out of Ireland for a number of days.

Air travellers hit by the grounding of all flights by the volcanic ash threat can still claim most of their EU rights even though the disruption is beyond airlines’ control, the European Commission confirmed tonight.

Airline passengers faced massive disruption today after ash from Iceland’s volcanic eruption moved towards UK airspace causing a number of airports to cancel flights.