Aviation officials discussed the issue of flight restrictions at a meeting held late Sunday night. The officials were given the latest measurements on the ash content in the sky over the south of Finland from tests conducted by the Finnish Air Force.

Finavia said that there is a hole in the cloud of ash over Finland which makes it possible to open the airports of Tampere and Turku between noon and six PM on Monday.

Finland’s Transport Safety Agency has also decided that small planes flying at an altitude of less than 900 metres can fly in all parts of Finland.

Finavia is to give its next report on flight restrictions on Monday afternoon.

Finnish authorities are updating the ash cloud's impact on air traffic every six hours. This means any decisions to open or close airports can be made on very short notice.