Ireland to see 'minimal' disruption

Ireland's skies should see minimal disruption to flights over the coming week due to reduced volcanic activity and a change in wind direction.

The latest forecast came following a meeting today of the Government Taskforce on Emergency Planning in the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre.

All Irish airports are open and the ash plume, which is now about 3,200 km long and 1,600 km wide, remains off the western coast.

In a statement issued this evening, the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said while the airports remained open, the ash would continue to cause difficulty for some trans-Atlantic operations and operations into some areas of southern Europe.

The IAA is to issue another update at 8.30am.

Aer Lingus this afternoon confirmed that due to the closure of Spanish airspace it has cancelled a number of flights scheduled to depart and arrive this afternoon and evening between Dublin and Madrid, Dublin and Malaga, Belfast and Malaga and London Gatwick and Malaga.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that that no evidence of deterioration in air or water quality has been detected through ongoing monitoring in Ireland or in Europe.

Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin tonight said Ireland was open for business despite the large plume of volcanic ash sitting off the Irish coast.

“We will take every opportunity to tell our potential visitors that Ireland is accessible and open for business - and will continue to be - by air, sea and through Great Britain,” she said.

Minister Hanafin said Fáilte Ireland was also working with the industry to draw up a customer care charter to reassure and improve confidence for tourists.

“This new charter will address issues such as cancellations policy, pricing for delayed tourists, provision of timely information, internet accessibility and quality of services for all tourists affected by delayed travel plans due to volcanic ash,” she added.

Flights between the United States and Europe were disrupted this morning due to the presence of high concentrations of volcanic ash over an area in the middle of the North Atlantic.

Aircraft traversing the main transatlantic arterial routes have to make significant detours to avoid the area and considerable delays are expected.

Flights operated by US Airways, Continental, Delta and Aer Lingus from US cities including New York, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta have been delayed. American Airlines cancelled their AA092 flight from Chicago, which was due to arrive in Dublin at 08.40am.

Areas of high ash concentration which caused disruption over continental Europe yesterday dispersed overnight and all European airports are currently open.

An update by European traffic control agency Eurocontrol this morning indicated the cloud could return over the Iberian Peninsula later today.

Forecasts show areas of higher ash concentration could move in a north-easterly direction from the Atlantic into the Iberian Peninsula this afternoon and flights operating from Portugal may be affected.

Ryanair has taken steps to cancel flights over Faro and Kerry.

Passengers planning to travel by air are advised to regularly check their airline websites.