Following the The Civil Aviation Authority's confirmation that UK airspace was available from 10pm last night, Manchester airport is open for business.
The motorway signs declaring "Manchester Airport is closed" were switched off soon after the confirmation was received and the first flight landed at Manchester just after 4am this morning.
Ten flights took off overnight, with a further two planes having left around 8am this morning and a number of arrivals expected within the hour.
Andrew Cornish, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, said: "I'm obviously delighted and we've not stood still throughout the crisis, working behind the scenes to make sure we're prepared once the airspace ban was lifted.
"It is going to be a difficult few days before we return to normal but additional staff are being brought into the terminals to help our passengers deal with this unprecedented situation. We'd also like to thank our passengers and staff for their continued patience and understanding since this situation began on Thursday 15 April."
The airport is advising passengers to contact their Airline or Tour Operator before travelling to the airport for any flight because schedules will take some time to return to normal. After six days without flights and tens of thousands of passengers waiting to be repatriated, significant disruption is likely before normal operations are resumed.
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Yesterday evening, the Irish aviation authorities confirmed that Irish airspace will be closed today (Tuesday 4 May) between 07:00 and 13:00 due to volcanic ash drifting towards the country.
Around 12 flights will be affected between Manchester Airport and Ireland during this period so passengers travelling to Ireland today should check with their airline before going to the airport.
Transatlantic flights that fly across Ireland will not be affected because the ash contamination is not at altitude.
There is no indication at the moment that this ash cloud will affect UK airspace. Other than flights to and from Ireland between 07:00 and 13:00, Manchester Airport will be operational as normal.