Govt taskforce predicts 'minimal' disruption to flights this week

The Government's Taskforce on Emergency Planning is forecasting minimal disruption at Irish airports this week as a result of the ash cloud.

Following a meeting earlier today the Taskforce said that while the plume remains close to the west coast of Ireland, volcanic activity has reduced and wind direction has changed leading to more favourable conditions.

All Irish airports are open today until 1am tomorrow at least following a weekend of disruption, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said.

"Based on current information, all airports will remain open all day today and until at least 0100 hours local Tuesday 11th May," the IAA said in its latest update issued at 2pm.

"There is some risk to west coast airports for tomorrow morning and this will become clearer later this afternoon."

The large volcanic ash cloud which currently measures approximately 2,000 miles long and 1,200 miles wide is still positioned over the Atlantic from Greenland to the Iberian peninsula.

"This will continue to cause difficulty for some trans-Atlantic operations and operations into some areas of southern Europe," the IAA said.