Over a hundred flights were delayed and ten were cancelled at Palma Son Sant Joan Airport on Friday as the Spanish island dealt with the ongoing impacts of bad weather caused by the Isolated High-Level Depression (DANA).
While the worst of the weather has moved beyond the Balearic Islands, delays and cancellations over the past several days have accumulated.
Flights also continue to be diverted due to adverse weather conditions elsewhere in Europe, according to the airport authority Aena.
Between Wednesday and Friday, 340 flights were cancelled, with 180 on Thursday, when Majorca was worst affected by storms, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reported.
The Aemet special advisory warned those on the island to expect strong or very strong showers and storms, accompanied by hail and very strong gusts of wind around 62mph. A further ten were cancelled on Friday.
According to FlightRadar24 data on Thursday morning’s flights from Majorca and Menorca, nearly all flights were displaying red or orange warnings, with delays of at least an hour.
Aena sources said that the bad weather also prevented some operations from being carried out and the accumulated delays made it impossible for them all to be carried out later in the day.
The airport expects normality to be resumed on Saturday.
However, the airport has been plagued by criticism over passengers suffering from a lack of information, with airlines failing to provide details and services passengers are obligated to receive including accommodation.
Pictures posted on social media showed travellers in Palma airport setting up their beach tents inside the terminal in an attempt to make the delay period more bearable.
The Consubal Consumers Association in the Balearics has voiced its criticism, especially regarding booking alternative flights: “It’s a problem for those who have to return home because they are being screwed if they want to buy another ticket,” said the president Alfonso Rodríguez.
He accused airlines of making a killing under the pretext of force majeure situations, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin.
The majority of the complaints received by the association are said to concern Ryanair and Vueling. However, Ryanair has maintained that the weather conditions were not significant enough for flights to be diverted.
“We want people to understand that safety comes first,” said Beatriz González, spokesperson for the USCA Union of Air Traffic Controllers.
She added that the state air navigation company, Enaire, had arranged the necessary requirements for control towers on Wednesday in anticipation of the problems expected to be caused by the storm.
