Air traffic was severely disrupted on Tuesday 24 September in south-eastern France following the failure of a radio antenna, struck by lightning, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) reported to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Flight schedules departing from Nice and Corsica airports have been altered”announced the DGAC on 10th early in the afternoon, inviting passengers to contact their airline to find out the conditions of their flight. “The equipment has been repaired and the signal restored”he told AFP in the mid-afternoon.
“Traffic will resume, the situation will return to normal, but there will be significant delays on certain flights”He clarified. According to the DGAC’s online dashboard, some delays from Nice and Marseille are approaching two hours.
57% of flights delayed in Nice
In Marseille, 12 flights, mainly Ryanair, were cancelled on Tuesday and seven delayed, the airport’s communications department told AFP, expecting further delays as traffic gradually picks up.
In Nice, where traffic was affected between 12.30 and 16.00, thirteen departing and arriving flights were cancelled and 81 flights were delayed, or 57% of flights in this time slot, according to a statement from the airport. In Corsica, five flights were cancelled at Ajaccio airport, two at Bastia airport, four at Figari (South Corsica) and a few delays were recorded, according to the websites of the four airports on the island.
During cutting, “Planes could still land”on the other hand “For takeoffs and traffic management, especially in Nice and Corsica, it was more complicated”had explained the DGAC, which then requested “Planes are either leaving for Italy or flying at a lower altitude”.
The decision to cancel flights was up to the airlines if they considered the delays to be too long, the source said.
