From
the BBC» :
UK▸ ash cloud restrictions easing
Flight restrictions have been lifted at all UK airports after the volcanic ash cloud over UK airspace moved away.
Knock-on disruption continues but there will be no flight groundings on the mainland at least until 0100 BST on Tuesday, UK air traffic control said.
After a weekend that saw thousands of passengers stranded, only Shetland and Orkney airports are closed to planes.
Meanwhile, new rules to allow planes to fly at higher ash densities have been agreed and will operate from Tuesday.
At talks between the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA» ), airlines, regulators, and aircraft and engine manufacturers a new "time limited zone" was set up.
From midday on Tuesday this will allow planes to fly for a limited period when volcanic ash is present in the air at higher ash densities than currently permitted.
The CAA said airlines had to present it with safety information - including the agreement of their aircraft and engine manufacturers - to be allowed to fly in the new zone.
One airline boss - British Airways' Willie Walsh - had criticised the weekend's restrictions as "a gross over-reaction to a very minor risk".
Weather forecasters said the ash cloud from Iceland was now being blown away.
However, there may be some restrictions to helicopter operations in the North Sea, where a no-fly zone is still in force.
Across the country:
^ In Northern Ireland , flights were able to operate from all three of Northern Ireland's airport from 1300 BST, but delays and cancellations were still possible.
^ In Scotland flights were cancelled for the rest of the day in Orkney and the Shetland Islands while Scotland's other airports reopened.
^ In Wales, airports are open. However Cardiff airport is warning that some disruptions and cancellations remain in place following earlier restrictions.
Airport operators are advising passengers to check for delays to their flights with airlines, who are working to clear the backlog of delayed passengers.
By the time restrictions were lifted on Monday, flights were cancelled or delayed by up to six hours at the UK's major airports.
Thousands of passengers were left to rebook their flights or to wait in airports for new departure times.
Network Rail pledged to do everything possible to help stranded and delayed travellers make journeys by train.
Virgin Trains said 7,000 extra seats had been made available on Monday, mainly on routes between Birmingham and Glasgow and Edinburgh, and between London Euston and Glasgow.
Eurostar laid on six extra trains through the Channel Tunnel on Monday, amounting to about 5,500 additional seats.
In the Netherlands, Amsterdam's Schiphol and Rotterdam airports reopened from 1300 local time (1200 BST) after being closed for seven hours.
Since the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted last month, throwing huge amounts of ash into the air, thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled across Europe due to fears that ash could turn into molten glass within a hot jet engine, crippling the aircraft.
The latest UK disruption saw airspace over Northern Ireland close first on Saturday, before the cloud moved south and grounded flights in many parts of the UK on Sunday.
Among the affected travellers who contacted the BBC News website was Matt Pope, from Guildford, who e-mailed to say it was the third time the ash had disrupted his travel plans. On the first occasion he was stuck in North Carolina for six days. He wrote: "Last weekend the Easyjet flight from Prague to Gatwick was cancelled due to aircraft positioning problems after ash in central Europe. This was after we ran the marathon and I missed my flight to Singapore the next day causing expensive rescheduling. Now I am sat at Heathrow awaiting for a flight to NY. Will this ever end?"
Flight restrictions depend on how dense the ash cloud is.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had already raised the density threshold level that forces a flight ban, following six days of airport closures last month. But after the latest airport closures over the weekend, airlines criticised the amended regulations.
BA» chief executive Mr Walsh said: "I am very concerned that we have decisions on opening and closing of airports based on a theoretical model. There was no evidence of ash in the skies over London today, yet Heathrow was closed."
He said that airlines flew safely in other parts of the world where there was volcanic activity. "If we can do it in every other part of the world, I can assure you we can do it in the UK as well."
On Sunday, Virgin Atlantic president Sir Richard Branson called the closure of Manchester airport "beyond a joke".
