UK travellers to and from Spain and Portugal have been told check their flight status following yesterday’s huge power outage that affected large parts of both countries.
The outage occurred just after midday Spanish time on 28 April and power has since been restored.
However, it caused huge problems to transport networks, including airports.
Aviation analyst firm Cirium said 185 flights departing Portuguese airports were cancelled and 187 arrivals cancelled. The worst affected airports were Lisbon, which saw 45% of departures cancelled and Porto, which saw 16% of departures cancelled.
Cirium said 205 flights departing Spanish airports were cancelled and 208 arrivals cancelled. Seville cancelled 33% of departures and Almeria cancelled 18% of departures.
In total, 25 of the 105 scheduled departure flights from the UK to Portugal and 11 of the 399 scheduled flights from the UK to Spain were cancelled yesterday.
In an update on its website at 08:15 today, Jet2 said all its flights are operating as normal. It added: “Should there be any changes, we will provide further updates here and we will be in contact with you via SMS and email.”
TUI said at 18:30 on Monday: “If you are travelling from or to mainland Spain or Portugal today or tomorrow, please check the latest status of your flight before you travel. If you experience any disruption getting to the airport in destination or miss your flight due to the power outage, please don’t worry. Our teams are ready to help you with your travel arrangements.
“We are contacting affected guests directly, but if you need immediate assistance, please reach out to our Customer Service Team.”
EasyJet told passengers travelling to and from Spain or Portugal to use the flight tracker on its app or online to check flight status before leaving for the airport.
It added: “If you’re leaving the Spanish or Portuguese mainland today and have missed your flight or can’t reach the airport due to the power outage, don’t worry. We can arrange a free of charge transfer to an alternative easyJet flight that departs within 72 hrs of your original flight, or a flight voucher for the value of your flight booking – if you wish to delay your plans.
“If you have arrived at the airport but have missed your flight, please speak to our Ground Crew.
“If you cannot reach the airport due to the power outage, please contact our Customer Services Team as soon as you are able to, and they will guide you through your options.
“Although this is beyond our control, we’re doing everything we can to make things easier for you.”
An easyJet spokesperson said today: “We have been informed that power has been restored to the key airports we fly to and from in Portugal and Spain and so plan to operate our flying programme as normal.
“We are advising customers to check flight tracker for the latest information on their flights. We continue to monitor the situation closely.”
Picture: Porto
