More than two dozen British Airways flights have taken off for London, hoping to be able to land despite restrictions on English airspace because of ash from a volcano in Iceland.

The flights come as the British Civil Aviation Authority announced that British airspace will reopen at 10 p.m. (5 p.m. ET), ending nearly a week of closure.

The airline hopes for a window of opportunity to land the planes at Heathrow or Gatwick airports, a company representative told CNN.

If the planes do touch down in London early Wednesday, they will be the first commercial airliners to do so since Thursday afternoon local time, according to BAA, the company that runs Heathrow.

If the planes cannot land in London, they will be sent to other destinations, the airline said.

The 25 planes took off from the west coast of the United States, Africa, India and other locations in Asia. A 26th plane that had been hoping to reach London was sent to Brussels, Belgium, instead, British Airways said.

The airline is aware that London airspace is closed for now, the representative said.

Half of all Europe’s flights were back in the air Tuesday.

(Source: CNN)