Anyone hoping to fly out of the Isle of Man yesterday would have been hoping the dust would have settled by now.

However, it seems rather than settling it's just moved.

Manx airspace was opened at 6.35 this morning, after the cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland cleared away from our area, at least for the time being.

It allowed local airline Manx2.com to start running services to Blackpool and Belfast from early this morning.

The first flight got away before 8am and a regular shuttle service has been run to and from Blackpool on the hour since 10am.

The airline was given permission to fly into United Kingdom airspace at the lower levels at which its planes operate.

Chairman of Manx2.com Noel Hayes is hoping to provide an 'air bridge' to the Island through the day (play audio file):

Manx2.com expected most of this afternoon's flights to get away on time, although the situation was being kept under regular review because of the weather.

This morning, the Met Office at Ronaldsway said the prevailing winds meant problems caused by the volcanic ash could be with us for several days.