Irish airspace to re-open at lunchtime

The IAA has cleared Irish airports to open for full operations from 1pm today, it has been announced.

Dublin, Shannon, Cork, Knock, Donegal, Waterford and Kerry may resume normal operations.

"We expect operations to be normal at all Irish Airports for the rest of today," said a statement from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).

"Ireland will not fall within the predicted area of ash concentrations that exceed acceptable engine manufacturer tolerance levels.

"Our decision to close earlier today was based solely on the safety risks to crews and passengers as a result of the drift south of the volcanic ash cloud caused by the north easterly winds."

"The situation will be reviewed as the week goes on.

"Winds are forecast to continue coming from a Northerly direction for the next few days and this could lead to further problems."

The IAA are set to issue a further update at 8pm tonight.

Aer Lingus said flights to the UK and Europe were expected to resume at 1pm.

Ryanair said flights to and from Dublin, Cork, Kerry and Derry airports were predicted to operate as scheduled from 2pm, with Belfast, Knock and Shannon commencing again at 4pm.

The low-cost carrier warned of possible delays as it inspected and returned aircraft safely to operation.

A spokeswoman for Dublin Airport Authority said more than 20,000 passengers and 200 flights were affected by the air space closure.

“There will still be some disruption – the schedule from 1pm onwards has to continue and airlines will also have to accommodate people who have missed their flights,” she added.

“It’s very, very quiet here at the moment. Passengers heeded the information and people are getting used to the situation when it happens now.

“It’s beyond everybody’s control and it’s safety first.”

Meanwhile, IAA chief executive Eamon Brennan forecast months of uncertainty as a result of the volcanic ash cloud, which forced the closure of much of Europe’s air space for almost a week last month.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said.

“We remain at risk for the rest of the week due to the northerly winds and particularly towards Wednesday.

“There’s no doubt about it, we’re probably facing a summer of uncertainly due to this ash cloud. All we can do is call it for safety reasons.”

The UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said airspace over Northern Ireland could also reopen at 1pm, allowing flights to resume from Belfast City, Belfast International and City of Derry airports.

Airports in the Outer Hebrides are also expected to open again this afternoon.

A CAA spokesman said: “As the situation is very dynamic, passengers expecting to travel from the impacted airports should contact their airlines to confirm their flight is operating.”