Holiday chaos in Ibiza as plane suffers accident while landing at airport and BLOCKS runway sparking travel misery
A PLANE caused chaos at Ibiza Airport after it suffered an accident when it landed and blocked the runway for hours.
More than 20 flights to and from the island were cancelled and 17 diverted to other airports including Barcelona and Majorca, causing travel misery for many British holidaymakers.
British travellers were heavily affected by the incident yesterday afternoon in Ibiza, which is still believed to be having knock-on effects today.
A bright yellow firefighting aircraft blocked the runway, which forced arriving flights to divert to another airport, cancelled others and halted the takeoff of new flights.
Disgruntled Ryanair passenger Carly Loveridge took to Twitter: to complain: “Ryanair any idea when you are going to stop delaying our flight?
“Can’t find anyone to help us, we have been stuck in Ibiza airport overnight as we were told the flight would leave at 7.55am and now it’s 10.35.”
Karen Freakley complained late last night: “British Airways where are you in Ibiza airport?
“Flight delayed overnight. No information, no staff.”
British travel enthusiast Jamie Taylor described the situation in the aftermath of the accident as “chaos”.
He said: “Runway has now reopened following an incident but departure lounge and security closed.
“Check-in hall heaving with people with nowhere to go.”
Another angry Brit described the situation following the accident as a “total s**t show”.
“Stuck in Ibiza airport. Absolutely zero info on what’s going on. No-one to ask about flight delay.”
British Airways flight BA479 were among flights affected, with passengers due to board complaining no-one from the airline had provided guidance.
One despaired late last night: “We have been left at Ibiza Airport now after six hours saying delayed to now cancelled.
“No news from British Airways, left it to poor Iberia staff to deal with who have had no information. So we have been left to our own devices.”
Tabitha Colenso described her experience at the airport as “terrible” in a scathing dig at the airline.
She wrote: “@BritishAirways. We were delayed by 7 hours and then the flight was cancelled. Communication has been appalling.
“We are still unclear about when our return flight is…. Communication is absolutely key. Where is yours?”
Flights from London Luton and London Gatwick are among those believed to have been diverted to Majorca’s Palma Airport.
Emergency services rushed to remove the firefighting plane that was causing the problems about an hour after it suffered an accident while landing around 4pm local time.
Spanish airports authority Aena confirmed in a tweet in the aftermath of the accident: “Runway blocked by a firefighting plane at Ibiza Airport.
“Work is underway to remove it. Flights may be diverted to other airports. Check the state of your flight with your airline.”
Spanish air traffic controllers, confirming they were managing the diversion of flights to Barcelona, Majorca and Ibiza, described it as a “very complicated day”.
IBANAT, which operated the plane which sparked the chaos, said in a tweet after the runway was cleared: “We are happy to confirm that the pilot who suffered an accident while he was landing at Ibiza Airport was unharmed.”