Under mounting pressure on European governments, some countries may lift the flight ban and resume at least a partial service on April 19 2010, according to international media.

It is possible that Austria and Italy may decide to lift the ban this afternoon but, according to the BBC World Service, British airspace will remain closed for the entire day.

In Bulgaria, Sofia airport is operational, and according to the Transport Ministry, Plovdiv airport will be working from 6pm on April 19.

Bulgaria Air flights and Wizz Air will be flying to Rome, while Bulgaria Air will be flying to Madrid. Additionally, a cancelled Bulgaria Air flight from Moscow on April 18 has landed in Sofia.

Sofia Airport is expecting inbound flights from Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Vienna, Rome, and Moscow.

EU transport ministers will hold emergency talks by video conference aimed at possibly easing travel restrictions and ending the crisis caused by the volcanic ash cloud.

International flights to Greece have also been cancelled, while all flights from Cyprus to Europe are not running, except for Greece, Dnevnik reported.

According to international media reports, to date more than 6.8 million passengers have been affected as the crisis enters its fifth day.

"We cannot just wait until this ash cloud dissipates," EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas told the BBC.

The British government is taking drastic measures to deal with the crisis. According to the Guardian, authorities have devised a plan to bring home about 200 000 people stranded abroad by the volcanic ash cloud by deploying the resources of the Royal Navy.

The CNN reported that airlines, already suffering from the global economic crunch and dwindling passenger numbers, are now facing about  $200 million losses each day.

The enormous shroud of fine mineral dust particles now stretches from the Arctic Circle in the north to the French Mediterranean coast in the south, and from Spain into Russia. The ash was expected to reach northern Bulgarian on April 18