Photograph of another situation, in the past, but in a scenario identical to the one experienced in the last 72 hours. Photo Archive/Aspress.
Madeira Airport has been transformed into a real dormitory, according to passengers who are stranded due to flight cancellations due to the wind.
“The airport is out of control”, stresses the witness to the situation. He gives the example of Ryanair, which “is only guaranteeing flights for 29/30 August”, describing the situation of passengers as “a nightmare”. And he adds: “They are leaving people to fend for themselves”, he laments.
The situation is that of hundreds of passengers with nowhere to stay and no support on the ground from the airlines, with mattresses everywhere and, if not enough, “people sleeping on the floor”.
As we have reported, the airport experienced one of the worst days of this year, perhaps in a long time, although it was not closed to landings or take-offs, there were just over two dozen flights that managed to land throughout the day. Between cancellations and diversions, initially and then cancelled, this Sunday there were 28 flights arriving and the same number departing.
The last flight has just landed at 9:35 p.m., a TAP plane from Lisbon. There is still one last flight, in the case of Binter, which should take place shortly before 10 p.m. and which should have already taken off from Porto Santo by now.
Tomorrow there are already at least two cancelled flights, but the hope of many of these passengers is that on the flights that manage to land – the wind is expected to continue to make operations difficult – there will be seats. The truth is that many of those who have their flights booked tomorrow will join those who are despairing, hoping that their flight will not be so ‘lucky’.