Dozens of passengers were forced to spend the night at Porto Santo Airport, some sleeping on mattresses provided by ANA, after strong winds prevented numerous flights from landing in Madeira on Saturday.
Hotels across Porto Santo were reportedly full, leaving no accommodation available for passengers whose aircraft had been diverted to the island. Many therefore remained inside the airport terminal overnight, waiting for an alternative way to reach Madeira, either by air or sea.
The disruption at Madeira Airport continued throughout Saturday, resulting in 17 cancelled arrivals and 14 cancelled departures. Another 19 incoming flights were diverted to Porto Santo, Lisbon, the Canary Islands and Porto.
Porto Santo became one of the principal alternative airports during the afternoon and evening. Eight of the 19 aircraft diverted from Madeira arrived on the island. The most serious disruption began with an easyJet flight from Lisbon and intensified from approximately 17:40.
Affected services originated in Geneva, Brussels, Nice, London, Amsterdam, Lanzarote, Lisbon, Lyon, Manchester, Katowice, Gran Canaria, Warsaw, Porto, Paris and Edinburgh.
In addition to the eight aircraft sent to Porto Santo, four were diverted to Lisbon, four to Gran Canaria, two to Tenerife South and one to Porto.
Many of those stranded overnight were passengers from easyJet flights. Although alternatives were offered, few chose to return aboard the same aircraft and instead remained in Porto Santo hoping to continue their journey to Madeira. However, seats aboard the Lobo Marinho ferry were also unavailable, further limiting their options.
Binter was also significantly affected. An aircraft arriving from the Canary Islands, carrying passengers whose final destination was Madeira, was forced to divert to Porto Santo.
That same aircraft was subsequently due to operate an inter-island service, creating a knock-on effect. Passengers arriving from the Canary Islands were unable to reach Madeira, while travellers waiting in Porto Santo could not fly to Funchal. Passengers in Madeira who were due to travel to Porto Santo were also left without their scheduled connection.
The problems continued into the early hours of Sunday. One aircraft stranded in Porto Santo attempted to reach Madeira but was again unable to land. TAP flight TP1695 from Lisbon, scheduled to arrive at 00:10, was also diverted.
Data from IPMA’s Santa Catarina weather station showed a significant deterioration in conditions on Saturday afternoon and evening. After gusts ranging from 54 to 69 km/h during much of the day, the wind intensified from 20:00, when average speeds reached 47.2 km/h, and gusts hit 73 km/h. The strongest gust of the period, 86 km/h, was recorded at 21:00, when the average wind speed stood at 46.4 km/h. At 22:00, gusts were still reaching 81 km/h.
Strong north-to-northwesterly winds continued overnight, with gusts repeatedly approaching 70 km/h. Conditions eased slightly during Sunday morning, although gusts of 59 km/h were still being recorded at 08:00.
This again highlights Madeira’s recurring vulnerability to weather-related flight disruption.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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