Runway repairs close British airport causing passenger chaos
Thousands of passengers have had their travel plans thrown into chaos after a busy city airport in England had to close so repairs could be made to the runway.
London City Airport (LCY) should have opened at around 6am but an early-morning inspection of the runway found surface problems and no flights were possible in or out.
As passengers filled the airport terminal in Docklands, repairs were being carried out, with the hope that services could start again around midday.
An LCY spokesman denied suggestions that there was a hole in the runway and apologised to passengers for the inconvenience.
Keith Gill tweeted: “London City. It’s a complete nightmare. No communication/updates.”
@LondonCityAir it's a complete nightmare ... No communication / updates
— Keith Gill (@KeithjGill) May 19, 2015
Andy Richardson wrote: “Chaos at London City this morning causing us problems flying in from Scotland.”
Chaos @LondonCityAir this morning causing us problems flying in from Scotland #quickerbytrain
— Andy Richardson (@a_ndyrichardson) May 19, 2015
Amid a grim situation for passengers, some saw the funny side of things.
Brid Cannon tweeted: “So, nocturnal alien landings leave their mark on runway at London City. Repair crews cleaning up after the ’visit’.”
So, nocturnal alien landings leave their mark on runway @LondonCityAir . Repair crews cleaning up after the "visit".. #londoncityairport
— Bríd Cannon (@Little_Cannon) May 19, 2015
An LCY spokesman said: “The runway is inspected each evening before we close around 10.30pm and it’s inspected again before we open around 6am.
“Today’s early inspection found there was a need for maintenance. There is not a hole in the runway but there is a surface problem. There are inconsistencies on the surface of the runway.”
He went on: “We have a considerable number of people in the terminal at the moment and we are very sorry for all the inconvenience.
“We would normally have handled around 35-40 flights by about 10am today and we hope that with the maintenance completed on the runway we shall be able to open later. But there will be delays.”
Passengers were being advised to check with their airline before leaving for LCY.
