Five aircraft bound for Madeira reversed course, resulting in 10 cancellations.
Nothing has managed to land today, maybe later a few might get the chance, but the forecast is windy for the next few days.
Most international flights destined for Madeira this Thursday morning – with scheduled arrivals until 11:00 AM – ended up returning to their airports of origin halfway through their journey, an unusual situation associated with the strong winds felt in the area of Madeira International Airport – Cristiano Ronaldo, where gusts of up to 98 km/h have already been recorded near the runway.
In total, five aircraft reversed course, notably four easyJet aircraft coming from Basel, Geneva, London and Berlin.
The flight from Basel turned back while en route between mainland Europe and Madeira; the one from Geneva reversed course while flying over Spain; the one from London changed course before even passing northern Spain; and the one from Berlin turned back while flying over France.
A Marabu airline plane, originating from Leipzig, also ended up returning to its point of origin while flying off the Portuguese coast.
These five returns translate, in practice, to 10 cancelled flights — five arrivals and the respective five return departures — worsening the operational impact at Madeira Airport.
Usually, when weather conditions prevent landing in Santa Cruz, flights are diverted to alternative airports such as Porto Santo, the Canary Islands, or Faro. However, recently it has become more frequent for flights to return to their point of origin, including situations where aircraft arrive in Madeira but end up returning to their departure airport due to unsuitable landing conditions.
The series of returns to origin observed this morning represents, however, an unusual scenario due to the number of aircraft affected simultaneously.