Irish flights to resume on phased basis from 5am

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.

The IAA said in a statement that only passengers with confirmed reservations for flights due to operate tomorrow should go to the airport, and should consult their airline's website before travelling.

Aer Lingus said it will operate its scheduled transatlantic flights as normal tomorrow as well as flights to Spain, Portugal and Italy up until 1pm, after which it hopes the majority of European routes will return to normal.

Regional flights will operate as usual, except to Cardiff, while the airline will review a flight ban to London and other services, also at 1pm.

The IAA stressed an easing of restrictions was not a return to full service and normal operations were not expected to be in place for up to three or four days.

Transport Minister Noel Dempsey said his EU counterparts agreed to divide European airspace into three zones.

A no-fly zone will surround the volcano in southern Iceland while areas covered by the ash cloud will be designated as a separate zone.

Flights could be allowed in this second “buffer zone”, which Ireland will come under, if scientific evidence from ongoing tests concludes there is no danger to passenger safety.

A third zone outside the volcanic cloud cover will have no flight restrictions.

Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic management organisation, is working with each country’s civil aviation authority – including the IAA – to determine whether restrictions can be lifted in individual cases.

“They (aircraft) won’t be allowed up if there’s any danger at all to passengers,” said Mr Dempsey.

“That will be decided scientifically, it will be decided on foot of tests that are being done, on the basis of the meteorological reports.”

Met Eireann said geological experts in London reported eruptions at the Eyjafjallajokull glacier had virtually stopped and the plume may move north in the next 24-36 hours.

The height of ash clouds spewing from volcano also began to fall – down to as low 2km in the atmosphere from 11km.

David Murphy, head of the IAA aviation services division, said he was optimistic the situation would dramatically improve tomorrow.

“The good news is that the most recent advice we have from the London Volcano Ash Advisory Centre is that the eruption has virtually ceased with only small amounts of ash and it goes up only to about 6,000ft,” he said.

“If that continues, in other words if the eruption has ceased and remains stopped, then the current ash plume will probably be blown away from the UK and Ireland overnight, by tomorrow night at the latest.

“There’s a good chance that Ireland and UK airspace, or most of it, will be clear by some time coming into tomorrow evening or at the latest the following morning.”

Eamonn Brennan, IAA chief executive, insisted passenger safety was the top priority but added they wanted authorities to examine scientific data to see if restrictions could be eased.

The IAA said it has been told the Icelandic volcano has been pumping out an average of 750 metric tonnes of ash a second over the past five days.

Environment Minister John Gormley said the matter had been discussed at Cabinet and he was in constant contact with the Environmental Protection Agency.

“It’s a very serious issue for this country, an island state that depends, for our exports and for our tourism, on planes. We hope that we can find a solution to this as quickly as possible,” he said.