European flights are expected to be at almost normal levels on Tuesday despite the closure of airspace over Ireland and part of western Scotland due to volcanic ash, European air traffic agency Eurocontrol said.

On a typical weekday, just under 200 flights would be expected in and out of Ireland, compared with around 28,000 throughout Europe, a spokeswoman said.

Shares in airlines Air France-KLM, British Airways, Iberia  and Lufthansa were between 0.5 and 1.9 per cent weaker at 0805 GMT, in a slightly lower overall market.

In Dublin, the Irish Aviation Authority said it would allow flights to resume from all Irish airports from 1200 GMT on Tuesday but volcanic ash could bring more disruptions later in the week and periodically throughout the summer.

Much of European air traffic was grounded last month because of the spread of ash from an erupting volcano in Iceland.

The air space closures cost Europe's airlines 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion euros ($2 billion to $3.3 billion), the European Commission has estimated.

Deutsche Bank commodities analyst Michael Lewis said in a note that the weeklong disruption had cut global jet fuel demand by about 15 per cent.

'While the current airspace restrictions are likely to be brief, we can't rule out persistent sporadic air travel disruptions in parts of Europe going forward depending on ash cloud movements,' he wrote.-Reuters