As the Isolated High-Level Depression (DANA) continues to affect the Spanish island of Majorca, widespread delays of several hours or cancellations of flights are plaguing Palma Airport, Aena sources have confirmed.
The delays are said to be approximately one or two hours and so far there have been a few cancellations, but it is not ruled out that more may need to be made throughout the rest of Thursday.
On top of this, airlines are continuing to clear the backlog, after they also had to reschedule operations that could not be carried out yesterday as a result of the cold drop that hit the island.
Aena sources – a public corporate enterprise for Spanish airports and air navigation – also point out that the rest of Europe is also navigating a strong storm, which has further complicated the situation.
The Balearic Sea became so turbulent that two boats collided and an orange alert was issued on Wednesday for the island.
The Aemet special advisory, published on Wednesday, warned those on the island to expect strong or very strong showers and storms, accompanied by hail and very strong gusts of wind of around 62mph.
Air traffic controllers have said that flights to Menorca, another of the Balearic Islands, are being diverted for safety reasons. They have also warned that another “long day” awaits them at the archipelago’s airfields.
According to FlightRadar24 as of midday on Thursday, since flights began this morning, about 11 flights have been cancelled at Palma airport, including to destinations such as London City Airport and Nice, with many more being delayed by at least an hour. The situation is worse across the water at Menorca, where nearly all flights are displaying red or orange delayed warnings.
Aena sources reported that some 50 flights were cancelled at Palma on Wednesday, due to bad weather preventing some operations from being carried out and the accumulated delays made it impossible for all of them to be carried out later.
Passengers have been urged to check the status of their flights and have been warned that the whole of the Mediterranean arc (from Nice to Valencia, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands) is facing a “second day of severe weather due to the DANA”.
Pictures taken in Palma airport have shown travellers setting up their beach tents inside the terminal to make the delay period more bearable.
Aemet issued a warning on Wednesday that the worst of the DANA is still on its way, with the special advisory released on Tuesday suggesting the system would be centred over the Balearics by Thursday.
In response, the Balearic government’s emergency department banned all outdoor group activities until Friday and the public holiday festivity scheduled for Thursday has been largely cancelled, pending rescheduling.