Flight restrictions due to volcanic ash will be lifted in the morning (Tuesday) from Scottish airports and those in Northern England.
Services will be able to operate south to a line between Teesside and Blackpool from 07.00.
The instruction came from National Air Traffic Services, which said the Icelandic eruption had reduced with the volcano not emitting ash to altitudes that will affect the UK.
"Assuming there are no further significant ash emissions we are now looking at a continuously improving situation," NATS said.
It added that while there was a changing situation, the latest Met Office advice is that the contamination area will continue to move south.
This gives the possibility that airspace restrictions above England and Wales – including the London area – maybe lifted later tomorrow, NATS added.
"It is now for airports and airlines to decide how best to utilise this opportunity," NATS said. "Passengers should contact their airlines to find out how this will affect their travel plans."
ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer said: "This is very good news for passengers. It will enable the normalisation of travel arrangements to begin, but this will necessarily be a phased process, due to length and scale of the suspension.
"Priority will be to return overseas passengers to the UK as soon as possible.
"Passengers with future bookings in the near term may still face disruptions, as normal service is resumed, and so should continue to check with their travel organisers prior to departing."
by Phil Davies
