Scottish and NI airports open again

This is getting ridiculous, we seem to be held almost to ransom by Iceland.. However the good news is Irish and Scottish airports will reopen again at 1pm today, after a six hour closure due to another outburst of volcanic ash from Iceland.

The ban on flights to and from Ireland did not affect aircraft flying over the country to and from the UK and Europe.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) cleared the airports to resume full services, but warned there may be more disruption ahead. The IAA will issue a further update at 8pm today.

The IAA said: “It was Our decision to close earlier today, this was based solely on the safety risks to crews and passengers as a result of the drift south of the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, caused by the north easterly winds.

“The situation will be reviewed as the week goes on. Wind direction forecasts is they will continue coming from a Northerly direction for the next few days and this could lead to further problems.”

This latest Ash flight ban also affected Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, but the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said this would also be lifted at 1pm today.

Almost 480 flights had been due to depart and fly in to Dublin Airport throughout the day, with more scheduled from Shannon, Galway, Sligo, Knock, Donegal, Cork and Kerry.

Ryanair cancelled all its flights to and from the Republic of Ireland, Belfast and Derry City from 6am to 2pm, with Aer Lingus suspending all Irish services to the UK and Europe until 1pm.