THE VOLCANIC ash plume from Iceland has affected the delivery of thousands of letters and parcels to long-haul destinations such as the US and Australia.
An Post said 20 per cent of overseas mail has not been delivered since last Thursday, when long-haul flights were halted.
After Irish airspace closed, An Post quickly organised alternative routes of delivery for UK mail. Its spokesman said all services to the UK were operational “with minimal delays” due to dispatch by road and ferry.
On Tuesday, it resumed deliveries to main European destinations via ferry and road, with some delays to delivery times. The remaining 20 per cent of international mail goes to destinations such as the US, Canada and Australia, and cannot be delivered until these flights resume.
The An Post spokesman said there was not a huge backlog of letters and parcels, as 90 per cent of its mail was delivered within Ireland.
He said postal services into and out of Ireland would continue to be disrupted until full airline schedules resumed. It was difficult to know when deliveries would be back to normal, he said.
“The situation is changing by the hour. We are in the same situation as everyone else.”
Similarly, inbound services to Ireland would continue to be disrupted until regular flight schedules to Dublin airport resumed, he said. “However, some mail is currently being received from a number of countries by road and ferry. We are doing all we can to keep disruption to a minimum. We have to wait our turn in terms of when we can come back on stream,” he said. “We will resume those services once air service is permitted.”
See the An Post website, www.anpost.ie , for updates. Helpline: 1850-575859.