Holiday relief as flights from Palma de Mallorca Airport resume after flooding

12 June 2024, 11:46

Holidaymakers were relieved on Wednesday as flights to Palma on the island of Mallorca resumed a day after the airport was flooded in heavy storms.

Flights were re-routed to different destinations and planes in Palma were grounded on Tuesday as the airport activated its emergency plan.

It came after freak storms flooded the airport's runway and affected the airport building itself, with water seen streaming through the roof of the duty-free area.

A spokesperson today said the airport had now returned to normal but that an extensive clean-up operation was underway.

The Palma Meteorological Office said that more rain was expected today before drying up into Thursday.

Some 9cm of rain fell in less than an hour at the heaviest point of the deluge on Tuesday, according to a weather station at the airport.

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Videos online showed an airport employee wearing a hi-vis yellow vest jumping backwards into the knee-high water on the tarmac.

The man was almost fully submerged in the water, with only one foot visible in the air in the footage.

Another video posted on social media showed rain pouring from the ceiling of the airport's duty free area.

Passengers said the airport was "chaos" as holidaymakers were told to check with their airline before travelling to the airport.

Some flights were able to land in Palma but passengers were not able to disembark because of the weather.

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A spokesperson for the airport said around 8.30pm local time on Tuesday: "Of the more than 900 flights programmed for today, 100 have been affected by way of diversions or cancellations.

"The airport operation was suspended for around two hours, from just after 3pm to around 5.30pm.

"During that timeframe no flight left or landed at Palma de Mallorca airport."

Palma Airport saw 31 million passengers pass through its doors in 2023.