Flights in and out of Irish airports are expected to resume early tomorrow morning, according to an update from the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA).
The majority of flights to and from Ireland were grounded today because of increased levels of volcanic ash in the atmosphere and services in some parts of Britain were also cancelled.
At present all Irish airports, with the exception of Cork, and Kerry, are closed.
Increased volcanic activity was experienced in Iceland yesterday, resulting in a denser ash cloud being expelled by the Eyjafjallajökull volcano high into the atmosphere. This evening the IAA said the ash cloud is currently moving south westwards and that airport restrictions will be lifted according to its progress.
Restrictions on services to and from airports in Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Donegal are scheduled to resume at 4am.
Sligo airport is expected to open for business again at 6am with restrictions lifting at Knock, Galway and Shannon at 8am. Kerry airport is due to resume services at 9am.
The IAA advised passengers to continue to check with airline websites about flights.
Aer Lingus said this afternoon it plans to operate its full transatlantic schedule from Ireland to the US tomorrow. It also said it intends to operate the majority of its short-haul services but warned that some disruption is anticipated.
Ryanair said it has cancelled all services to and from Belfast, Derry, Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick until at least midnight and that flights from Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle may be curtailed later today because of the ash cloud.
Ryanair said all flights at UK airports and at Dublin and Knock are expected to operate on schedule tomorrow. But it said flights to and from Cork airport are cancelled until 12pm, while flights at Shannon and Kerry airports are postponed until 2pm and 4pm respectively.
Restrictions on services to and from Dublin airport began at 11am today while flights in and out of to Belfast International, Belfast City, Sligo, Donegal, Knock and Derry airports were also cancelled due to the ash cloud.
Flights from Galway and Waterford airports were grounded from noon and 3pm respectively, while restrictions came into place at Shannon airport from 5.30pm. Normal service will continue at Cork and Kerry airports until at least midnight.
The restrictions on Irish airspace followed a decision by the British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to ground flights over Northern Ireland and Scotland from 7am.
In Britain, flights will remain grounded until 1am tomorrow at a number of airports including Belfast and Glasgow. However, Edinburgh re-opened at 7pm.
IAA director of operations Donie Mooney told RTÉ radio it was unfortunate a decision to restrict services had to be taken late last night but said this was because the necessary information was not available before that point.
More than 200 flights were cancelled yesterday as a result of the closure of Irish airspace between 7am and 1pm by the Irish authority. Up to 30,000 passengers were affected by the disruption which hit all of the country’s airports.
Met Éireann forecaster Evelyn Cusack said a high-pressure system over the Atlantic, drawing winds from Iceland, would remain in place until tomorrow evening. While the risk of flight disruption over the weekend would be low, there would be a renewed threat next week as the northwest winds returned, she said.
Irish Ferries said this afternoon that there is space still available on its 8.05am and 8.45am sailings from Dublin to Holyhead tomorrow morning and on all returning sailings from Holyhead to Dublin.
Space is also available on all outward and inward bound sailings between Rosslare and Pembroke and on services between Ireland and France.