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

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.

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 the erupting Icelandic volcano halted a single flight over Greenland today, but the most of it was expected to blow north of Scandinavia and disrupt few, if any, flights over Europe.

Iceland closed its main international airport and cancelled domestic flights today as a powerful volcanic eruption sent a plume of ash, smoke and steam 12 miles into the air.

Iceland’s most active volcano has started erupting, scientists said – just over a year after another eruption on the North Atlantic island shut down European air traffic for days.

Cases of crime, illness and accidents involving Irish people abroad jumped by more than a fifth in the first half of the year, new figures show.

THE closure of Irish airspace due to volcanic activity in April caused a dramatic reduction in the number of overseas visitors to Ireland.

Luton: EasyJet will become the first airline in the world to fit its fleet with ash-detection gear in an effort to minimise disruption from volcanic eruptions.

THE Icelandic ash cloud crisis could finally be over after experts claimed the Eyjafjallajokull volcano is no longer active.

ICELANDIC scientists have described the latest quiet phase of the volcano, which has wreaked havoc on airlines, as a calm before the next expected storm of activity.

Flight restrictions affecting Heathrow and Gatwick airports have been lifted, British air traffic control company Nats have said.

RYANAIR has been slapped with a €3 million fine by the Italian aviation authorities over the airline’s failure to assist passengers stranded after flights were cancelled due to volcanic ash last month.

A specialist aircraft was today calculating the density of volcanic ash over Irish air space after aviation chiefs had to enforce airport closures.

Aviation chiefs tonight warned of further travel misery as a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland drifts closer to Ireland.

Italy’s civil aviation agency has fined Ryanair €3m for failing to help passengers stranded last month when flights were cancelled due to Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud.

Ash cloud disruption to flights could last all summer as there are no signs that the eruption from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland is about to end.

Ash from the still-erupting Icelandic volcano has caused further turmoil for passengers today as Aer Lingus and Ryanair have been forced to cancel a number of flights.

Dublin Airport is to shut from 11am until at least midnight, causing travel misery for thousands of passengers, it was confirmed today.

Air passengers faced further misery today as volcanic ash forced restrictions in Irish airspace once again.

AVIATION officials were meeting late last night amid fears flights may have to be grounded for a second day because of volcanic ash as Irish airlines face a summer of uncertainty.

FASTEN your seat belts – the threat to air travel from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland is likely to remain for the summer months, according to the Irish Aviation Authority.

Hundreds of flights have been grounded as a volcanic ash cloud loomed over Ireland this morning.

ALL flights in and out of this country have been grounded since 7am as northerly winds have driven clouds of Icelandic volcano ash back into Irish airspace.

IN the ageless contest between man and nature, nature reasserted its primacy for an entire week, crippling air travel around the world and sending shudders through the global economy.

Nick Clegg went on the offensive today, accusing David Cameron and Gordon Brown of attempting to “frighten” British voters away from voting Liberal Democrat.

ARJEN ROBBEN may have been Bayern Munich’s Champions League saviour once more but he was still forced to issue an apology following the 1-0 semi-final first leg win against Lyon on Wednesday night.

THE Irish Aviation Authority has rejected any suggestion it over-reacted in closing Irish airspace for most of the past week due to the risk of volcanic ash to aircraft.

SOMETIMES all you can do is laugh. Amid the chaos caused by the now almost week-long shutdown of airports across Europe, news alerts on Monday evening suggested an even worse scenario had arrived.

BAYERN MUNICH defender Philipp Lahm has played down the impact of Lyon’s travel woes ahead of tonight’s Champions League semi-final first leg.

Fulham have confirmed they will travel by road to Germany today for the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against Hamburg.

Celtic today announced their planned friendly against AZ Alkmaar tomorrow night has been postponed due to the travel chaos caused by an erupting Icelandic volcano.

WHILE the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning said restrictions were likely to remain in place today, the outlook for a resumption of flights later this week seems positive.

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

Up to a third of all European flights are expected to operate today, although a ban remains across Ireland and the UK.

LIVING in a temperate climate we can easily forget how powerless we are in the face of destructive nature.

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.

IRELAND looks set to remain cut off from Europe for the rest of the weekend as the continuing spread of volcanic ash across northern Europe brought aviation to the biggest standstill since 9/11.

A HIGH pressure weather system lodged over Ireland has been keeping the volcanic ash from falling on the country, according to Met Éireann.

TWO of Iceland’s leading experts on volcanoes warned yesterday that the Eyjafjallajokull eruption could last for up to two years, bringing further air traffic chaos to Europe.

THE crisis which has brought Ireland’s airlines to a standstill could last for days, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has confirmed.

Volcanic ash from the eruption in Iceland could take between 24 and 36 hours to drift across the UK – if there is no more volcanic activity, weather forecasters said today.

Iceland’s latest volcanic eruption is coming to an end and with it the unexpected tourist boom that lifted the recession-hit country’s financial fortunes.