PROPERTY SEARCH
Ibiza plane accident leaves hundreds of British holidaymakers stranded
The light aircraft completely blocked the runway and delayed flights to and from Spain
Hundreds of British travellers had the weekend from hell as they waited for hours, some even overnight, at Ibiza airport without knowing if their flights would ever take off. A light aircraft belonging to the firefighting department careened across the runway upon landing on Sunday June 18 and completely blocked the tarmac, resulting in more than 20 cancelled flights to and from the Spanish island.
Another 17 were diverted to other airports including Mallorca and Barcelona, causing untold disruption which is understood to have continued into Monday June 19.
While the airlines were powerless to do anything until the bright yellow plane could be moved, countless disgruntled passengers from the UK took to social media to complain, slamming the carriers for leaving them stranded with no information about their flight status.
One Briton described waiting for hours for British Airways flight BA479 to depart from Ibiza, only to find it axed: “We have been left at Ibiza Airport now after six hours saying delayed to now cancelled.
“No news from British Airways, left it to poor Iberia staff to deal with who have had no information. So we have been left to our own devices.”
Low-cost airline Ryanair fared little better in the confusion, as passenger Carly Loveridge pointed out on Twitter: “Ryanair any idea when you are going to stop delaying our flight?
“Can’t find anyone to help us, we have been stuck in Ibiza airport overnight as we were told the flight would leave at 7.55am and now it’s 10.35.”
The IBANAT aircraft suffered some kind of accident when it landed in Ibiza at around 4pm on Sunday and rescue workers were on the scene within the hour to try and clear the runway. The company operating the firefighting aircraft later confirmed that the pilot was thankfully unharmed.
In other news: Coastal waters in Spain stew in abnormally high temperatures
Image: IBANAT
Sign up for the Spanish News Today Editors Roundup Weekly Bulletin and get an email with all the week’s news straight to your inbox
Special offer: Subscribe now for 25% off (36.95 euros for 48 Bulletins)
OR
you can sign up to our FREE weekly roundup!
Read some of our recent bulletins:
25% Discount Special Offer subscription:
36.95€ for 48 Editor’s Weekly News Roundup bulletins!
Please CLICK THE BUTTON to subscribe.
(List price 3 months 12 Bulletins)
Read more stories from around Spain:
Contact Spanish News Today: Editorial 966 260 896 /
Office 968 018 268
