The six-day no-fly nightmare – caused by volcanic ash from Iceland – was finally over.

And families were waiting at the arrivals barrier to give their loved ones the warmest of welcomes.

The tired tourists – the first group of stranded Mancunians to return home – were aboard Jet2’s twice-weekly Boeing 767.

The plane had departed Manchester for Tel Aviv yesterday morning — just 17 minutes late.

But as it was the first Israel-bound flight for more than a week, no one seemed to mind.

The Jewish Telegraph has been inundated with readers’ stories of horror and heroism.

Many, indeed, are still stranded in far-flung parts of the world.