The crisis that has closed much of Europe's airspace for five days finally showed signs of easing yesterday as officials acknowledged flaws in the computer models that led them to ground thousands of flights after a volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Amid mounting pressure from airlines, estimated to be losing at least $200m a day, European Union transport ministers said they planned to start opening air corridors to bring home some of the hundreds of thousands of travellers caught up in the disruption.
Dutch authorities were ready to allow flights from Monday night after ministers reached a deal to cut the size of the no-fly zone in place since last week.