Strong crosswinds force diversion of numerous flights bound for Malaga
Seville Airport is full, so planes are diverted to other points further away
Strong crosswinds have forced the diversion of a total of 11 flights bound for Malaga Airport so far this week. They were all diverted before 1pm on Tuesday. While some were sent to Seville, others had to be diverted to Madrid, Valencia, Faro, Alicante and Jerez due to saturation at Andalucía's second airport in terms of traffic.
According to state meteorological agency Aena, three planes, with departures from Istanbul, Barcelona and Oslo, have been diverted to Seville.
One from Madrid had to return. A flight from London-Heathrow was also diverted to the Barajas Airport in Madrid.
Another flight from London-Gatwick went to Faro. A flight from Tampere (Finland) and another from Berlin went to Jerez. One from Bergamo and one from Casablanca landed in Valencia. One from Zurich and one from Dublin diverted to Alicante-Elche.
82
kilometres per hour was the strongest gust measured at Malaga Airport on Tuesday
These adverse weather conditions are expected to continue until at least 6pm on Tuesday. The forecast for Wednesday duplicates Tuesday's strong winds. "This only happens two days a year," Spain's airport operator has stated.
Aemet's Malaga Airport station measured a maximum gust of 82km/h at 11.30am on Tuesday and sustained winds of 42km/h.
The state meteorological agency has activated numerous warnings for strong winds, coastal phenomena and rainfall across the country this week. Winds of between 60 and 80km/h are expected to continue disrupting air traffic along the southern coast throughout Tuesday.
Rainfall accumulations are expected to reach 50mm in Serranía de Ronda and 40 in the rest of the province by the end of Tuesday.
