Bad weather has caused more than four dozen flights to be cancelled this morning at Madeira Airport, affecting both arrivals and departures.
Before the vast majority of operations were cancelled, several flights were diverted to other airports, as a safety measure in view of the impossibility of landing on the Santa Cruz runway. National connections from Lisbon and Porto were affected, but also several international operations from London, Berlin, Zurich, Geneva and DĂĽsseldorf. In cases where the return to base did not take place, the aircraft captains activated the usual resource airports for Madeira, diverging mainly to Faro, in the Algarve, to the neighbouring island of Porto Santo, and to Tenerife Sul, in the Canary Islands, with at least one landing recorded in Seville, in southern Spain.
The operational balance of the last few hours also shows an impact on the punctuality of all connections. Dozens of flights continue to be operated with very significant delays, both in arrivals and take-offs, with crews and passengers waiting for occasional improvements in wind intensity.
In the face of this continuous instability, airport authorities and airlines maintain the usual recommendations that passengers confirm the status of their flights before travelling to the airport.
Speaking to TSF-Madeira, the Madeiran Delegate of the Portuguese Institute of Atmosphere and Sea (IPMA), Ricardo Tavares, confirmed the intensity of the wind that is felt in that area of the island.
“The wind was very strong during the night, and the trend is to decrease, as predicted. We are already having less intense gusts, yet the wind remains strong, especially in the highlands, in the extreme west and east of the island of Madeira. At the moment, we have gusts of 80 km/h, and it is a situation that will continue throughout the day. It will decrease a little by the end of this afternoon, but tomorrow they will increase the intensity again, but we will not have gusts as intense as today.” Ricardo Tavares.
According to IPMA data, maximum wind gusts reached 98 km/h by 07:50, with the wind intensity remaining quite high, with records reaching 83 km/h at midday.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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