Hundreds of Swedish holidaymakers are still stranded on Gran Canaria after a sandstorm crippled air traffic.
The airport on the island briefly opened on Sunday afternoon but had to close again quickly.
It is unclear when the travellers will be able to go home.
Many holidaymakers had to end their stay on Gran Canaria with a night at the airport, and for the passengers, it will be another night left on the island. SAS announces that none of their flights will go to or from Gran Canaria on Sunday. Travellers who were supposed to fly to Stockholm, Oslo, Kristiansand, Gothenburg and Copenhagen will have to wait until tomorrow, Monday, at the earliest.
Several hundred Swedes who were due to fly home with Ving, SAS, Norwegian and TUI were affected by a massive sandstorm on Saturday evening, a so-called red calima, which brought red sand from the Sahara to the Canary Islands. Those who were supposed to fly home on Sunday were left behind as the airport was forced to close again in the afternoon, after having been open for a short time.
Demand for hotel rooms is high, and travellers may therefore need to spend another night at the airport.
”We are working to try and find hotels for those who have to stay overnight again, but it's difficult to find available capacity,” says John Eckhoff, information officer at SAS.
”The situation is that there are several thousand passengers stuck down there. If you have the opportunity, you should try to find a hotel or accommodation yourself.
Even on Swedish soil, travellers who couldn't go on their planned sun holidays were affected. SAS has cancelled three flights to the Canary Islands this morning, from Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen.
Norwegian has cancelled several flights to and from Scandinavia today. In a press release, the airline states that the weather situation is affecting flights on Sunday and that they are keeping customers updated via text message. The company has several aircraft parked in Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
”We have worked through the night to help our customers in the best possible way with hotel overnights and meal vouchers. It is a demanding situation as all airlines are affected and most hotels are full. Safety is our most important priority and the planes must undergo technical inspections to ensure they have not sustained damage from the sandstorm,” Norwegian writes in the press release.
Ving has 370 passengers on Gran Canaria who were supposed to fly home at 4.30 PM local time.
One of the travel company's aeroplanes, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Portugal yesterday, was en route to Gran Canaria Airport on Sunday afternoon. The flight was supposed to pick up the stranded passengers there and take them to Sweden. However, the airport was closed again, whereupon the aeroplane was forced to land on the neighbouring island of Tenerife.
Charlotte Hallencreutz, a spokesperson for Ving, has no forecast for when travellers can go home.
Erik Asp, one of the affected travellers who was forced to spend the night at the airport, tells Expressen :
”We looked out of the window and didn't even see the plane. Visibility was practically non-existent.”
Spain's national weather institute has warned of strong winds until Monday, according to Reuters.
The worst affected are Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote. The weather forecast for Tenerife, however, is good.
Source: TT
