Dublin airport was more like its usual hectic self today as some flights began arriving and departing.
The departures area was packed this morning with passengers queueing for check-in desks and to change bookings with the various airlines, with trolleys overladen with luggage much in evidence.
Flights from Milan, Madrid, Galway and Istanbul landed during the afternoon. While queues at the information desks and ticket desks had grown shorter by mid-afternoon, those at the Aer Lingus baggage-drop desk were getting longer.
Among those who flew in today were some160 Irish troops who were stranded on a peacekeeping mission in the Balkans arrived back. A huge roar went up in the arrivals hall as the soldiers entered at 4.30pm.
One of the men, Glen Sargent from Tallaght, looked delighted to be home as he embraced his excited toddler son and partner Siobhán Nolan.
The soldiers, mainly from the Eastern Brigade, were staying at Camp Clarke, outside the Kosovan capital Pristina, until air restrictions were lifted to allow them fly home. The peacekeepers were due to pull out yesterday as their six-month tour came to an end, along with Ireland’s major role in the mission.
Dublin Airport Authority staff were again prominent and patient, directing people to the correct check-in desks and answering questions. One staff member greeting and directing passengers at the door of the departures hall said things appeared to be moving smoothly.
Business in the security queue was still a little slower than usual, though, as many flights displayed on the overhead screens were still marked cancelled. Checked-in passengers trickled through, surely grateful for the lack of yet another queue before the inevitable shoe and jacket-removal dance.
While there was still some doubt over flights, many departing travellers seemed reasonably confident of getting themselves on an aircraft today.
Jean Feeney expected to be on a flight to Lanzarote this afternoon as originally planned, but there were many people whose plans remained uncertain or who were arriving at the airport after several days of delays to their holidays, business trips and some sadder life events.
Ifeoma Nwajei, who is due to fly to Nigeria tomorrow for her father's funeral, had just come to the airport to check the situation and to find out if she will be able to travel via Paris as planned.
Francois Caquant was in a long queue for the Ryanair information desk along with his family. They were originally due to fly on Sunday, but those plans were pushed back to today, and, again, their flight was cancelled. So they had made alternative arrangements through the French embassy to get home by bus through Britain, and then by ferry from Dover.
In the much quieter arrivals area, most flights listed had also been cancelled. That long list included flights not arriving from Pristina, London, Abu Dhabi, Glasgow, Knock, Southampton, Galway, Cork, Donegal, Manchester and Birmingham.
Of the few flights that did arrive in Dublin this morning, a Delta flight from New York landed six minutes earlier than its expected 10.30 touchdown. A flight from Copenhagen landed at 11.37, with the first of the luggage-free passengers trickling through to the arrivals hall within 10 minutes.
Among the passengers was Stefan Godskesen, who lives and works in Ireland but who had been back in Denmark for a visit. Smiling, he indicated that he hadn't suffered any disruption at all and his flight had gone as originally scheduled.
In contrast, Claus Lellinge and Ann Ellegaare had lost five days of their holiday and they weren't looking happy.
Aer Lingus cancelled all flights until 1pm today and said it hoped to operate 120 flights. Most of its transatlantic services will operate but flights EI 105 from Dublin to New York and EI 133 from Dublin and Shannon to Boston were cancelled.
Ryanair said it was cancelling flights on services between Ireland and the UK until 5am on Friday to free up aircraft to clear passenger backlogs.