EAST Coast rail cashed in on disruption at airports caused by the volcanic ash cloud by carrying 5,000 extra passengers.

The publicly-run railway was one of the few beneficiaries from Tuesday's travel disruption which saw 68 flights in and out of the North-East cancelled or diverted.

Spokesman John Gelson told The Northern Echo: "As a result of the ash cloud and its impact on flights to and from both Newcastle and Scottish airports, East Coast carried almost 5,000 additional passengers yesterday.

"The extra capacity created with this week's introduction of our new timetable has helped us to carry many more passengers and provide a replacement for the cancelled flights."

Yesterday flights returned to normal - bar the odd cancellation - after high levels of ash from the Icelandic eruption cleared UK skies.

But airlines, including British Airways, had to axe some German services as the ash cloud moved over northern Europe.

A spokesman for Newcastle Airport said it had been fully operational since the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He added: "There have been a few cancellations this morning because planes were unable to get here last night and were in the wrong position.

"Extra staff are now on duty in an effort to get as many people as possible away."

Dave MacDermid, of Eastern Airways, which cancelled a dozen flights to and from Durham Tees Valley Airport, also said things were now back to normal.

He said: "We had a early morning cancellation at DTV which was purely because the aircraft was in the wrong position.

"Tuesday was a bit of a nightmare, but as long as the ash cloud remains over Germany it is someone else's problem."

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the ash cloud was expected to come back to the UK on Friday, but it could return at such high altitude that aircraft may be able to fly beneath it.

He added that the returning cloud might have become dispersed enough not to cause any problems.