Storm chaos at Palma Airport

IT was a hectic weekend at Son Sant Joan Airport in Palma with more than 250 flights delayed for more than half an hour.

On Friday, flights had to be diverted as the boarding areas and aprons were flooded, and on Saturday, more than half of flights were delayed, most of them for around an hour.

However, some flights connecting with Germany and the UK arrived at their destination more than three hours late. The worst affected were departures to Germany.

In just over 10 minutes, 38 litres per square metre of rain fell at Son Sant Joan Airport on Friday, seriously affecting activity for around 90 minutes. Huge queues formed as Vueling and Iberia airlines began cancelling flights and aircraft waiting to land were diverted to other airports as the runway flooded.

Passengers waiting to leave the island complained that as flights were delayed or cancelled it was impossible to find hotel rooms, leaving them stuck at the airport to wait for the weather to improve.

Eight international flights had to be diverted due to the storms, hailstones and lightning, while the apron was closed for half an hour until water could be removed. 

Flights due to leave at 11am were delayed more than an hour. According to airport authority AENA, between 1pm and 2pm on Sunday everything was back to normal.