More than 10,000 passengers scheduled to fly through Stansted airport yesterday were unable to travel due to runway restrictions imposed as a result of the hijacking.
They included an estimated 1,500 passengers due to fly on 37 Ryanair flights which were cancelled.
A spokeswoman for the airline said its flight schedule returned to normal at 2 p.m. when Stansted's runway number 23 reopened. However, she said, some delays continued yesterday evening as the backlog was being cleared.
Ryanair's 12 aircraft based at Stansted were prevented from taking off early yesterday due to the runway restrictions.
Many passengers scheduled to fly from Dublin to Stansted were rebooked on flights to London, Luton and Gatwick. Others had been rebooked on flights to Stansted today.
The company's spokeswoman said that of the 1,500 passengers affected, 900 were put on other flights yesterday and about 600 would travel today. The small number who made alternative arrangements, she said, would be fully refunded.
She added: "We are continuing to liaise closely with the authorities at the airport on the ongoing situation."
Ryanair, like other airlines, had been contacting passengers from early yesterday to inform them of the delays and cancellations.
A spokesman for the airport said 80-90 per cent of planned flights yesterday afternoon had gone ahead thanks to extra resources being brought in from Gatwick and Heathrow airports. However, he said, no more than a third to a half of the 20,00024,000 passengers expected to travel yesterday were catered for.
Ryanair passenger information lines remain open on (01) 812 1214/5/6.
