Ash cloud moves away

Pressure on airlines and passengers eased tonight after the large plume of volcanic ash which hung off the coast of Ireland was blown across the Atlantic.

Aviation chiefs revealed Irish air space is expected to remain open for the weekend and into next week if winds continue to push ash clouds away.

But passengers were warned to keep checking the status of flights and the airports they are travelling to.

Martin Towey, IAA spokesman, said the high concentration of the volcanic ash has diminished and blown out across the Atlantic.

“There is a small amount of concentrated ash off Portugal, but the low levels are not an accident risk at all,” said Mr Towey.

“There is another high concentrated piece coming from the volcano but we are expecting the wind to turn that around and keep that away from us.

“Because of all of that we can keep air space open.”

Mr Towey revealed the change in the plumes of smoke – which this week measured about 2,400 nautical miles long by 1,300 nautical miles wide – have been dramatic.

However he warned any further eruptions from the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland or change in wind direction could cause a problem.

“But that’s not expected it the short term,” he added.

Elsewhere the IAA confirmed contact is being made between its officials and researchers at NUI Galway who claim to have devised an elaborate volcanic ash plume forecaster.

The academics maintained they developed a model to deliver six-day estimates for the location, size and make-up of dust clouds spewing from the volcano.

Meanwhile budget carrier Ryanair has added several extra flights between Dublin, London, Edinburgh and Brussels and Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and Tenerife for disrupted passengers.

Aer Lingus also deployed a larger aircraft and an extra flight on our Dublin-Malaga route.