Aer Lingus expected to restore full service today

AIRLINES:AER LINGUS and Ryanair both expect to restore normal service over the next two days provided that the volcanic ash cloud stays away from Irish airspace.

Aer Lingus hopes to operate a full schedule today for the first time in a week. The airline operated 120 flights yesterday and ramped up its service from destinations like Lanzarote, Barcelona, Madrid, Malaga, Milan, Faro and Venice. It also used some of its transatlantic aircraft yesterday to increase capacity.

Aer Lingus spokeswoman Gillian Culhane said it was in a position to return to normal after bringing home five aircraft from continental Europe when Shannon airport opened up.

The airline has confirmed that all flights between Ireland and the UK, Europe and the US will operate normally today.

A total of 2,000 extra seats will be made available to accommodate passengers flying home from other European destinations like Tenerife, Las Palmas, Malaga, Barcelona, Lisbon, Naples, Venice, Milan and Dubrovnik.

Ryanair will not be operating any flights between Ireland and the UK until tomorrow morning. That move is to allow aircraft to instead fly to continental destinations to pick up stranded passengers.

Extra Ryanair flights have been arranged to and from Dublin to Alicante, Faro, Fuerteventura, Palma and Tenerife to allow passengers to return home. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said passengers who needed to travel between Ireland and the UK today should take the ferry if they cannot wait for the resumption of flights tomorrow.

Those passengers who are transferring from cancelled flights can transfer free of charge and those who have demanded a refund from the airline can rebook their flights on a first come first served basis.

Each seat will cost €100 one way plus tax. The airline will be suspending all airport check-in and baggage fees over the coming days. Mr O’Leary warned that it could be Sunday or Monday before traffic returns to normal.

“I would warn everybody it is not going to be easy because European air traffic control is going to be under huge pressure and the airports are going to be under enormous pressure,” he said.

Aer Arann hopes to operate fully from tomorrow with no delays or cancellations. The airline flies from Waterford, Galway and Donegal airports to various destinations in the UK.

The airline was frustrated by the fact that although its propeller-based planes have a cruising altitude of 18,000ft and could have flown below the ash cloud, it was nonetheless precluded from flying because Irish and UK airspace was closed.

Irish Aviation Authority spokesman Martin Towey said the situation was “looking pretty good” at the moment, but he cautioned that there was still the slim possibility of the volcanic ash cloud precluding flights to and from Irish airspace.

“If the no-fly zone, which is just below Iceland and above Scotland, moves south we could be in trouble again, but there are very light winds forecast and the likelihood is that this will not happen.

“We’re open for business at the moment. It is now for the airlines to get their schedules in order and get their flights moving again.”

The authority said up to 4pm yesterday that air traffic in Ireland was running at 40 per cent of the same time last year. Dublin airport had only 8 per cent of normal traffic compared to the same time last year. In Shannon, the figure was 29 per cent, while in Cork it was 3 per cent. Flights over Irish airspace were 70 per cent of the levels on the same day last year.