La Palma airport is operational this Monday after a complicated weekend hampered by cancellations, although there are delays in inter-island flights due to the volcanic ash cloud from the first hour, four so far, all from Tenerife North, according to data of AENA.
The meteorological conditions will continue at least until this Tuesday and they continue to be unfavorable from the point of view of air quality but a turn of the wind is expected in the next few hours that will propitiate a more favorable scenario for air navigation. During the weekend a total of 22 of the 38 planned operations were canceled, according to Aena sources.
Companies such as Binter Canarias are always attentive to the meteorological evolution, in order to try to recover the activity as soon as possible and whenever conditions allow flights to be resumed, guaranteeing their safety. On the other hand, the company informs that it is responding through the usual channels to requests for changes or refunds that may be received from affected passengers on these flights.
As for the Tenerife North airport, it has remained open and operational at all times, as explained by AENA, despite the fact that some companies decided from Sunday to divert their flights to Tenerife South. The air traffic controllers have explained to the SER that the security conditions at Tenerife airports allow flights to take off and land except on La Palma, including Tenerife North. According to the data they handle, the affection of the ash from the La Palma volcano does not endanger the safety of the flight, so in no case However, there are certain companies that have opted for the diversion to Tenerife South, such as the case of Iberia and Vueling, which decided to take that alternative from Sunday, which caused several delays and cancellations. However, others such as Binter and Air Europa continued their operations normally.
“The forecasts are the same for everyone”, indicates José Luis Feliu, air controller of the Canary Islands Control Center and spokesperson for the USCA (Union of Air Traffic Controllers), “already the companies decide by their internal criteria that I am not aware of operating from Tenerife South or from Tenerife North directly.” “The engines are the same and it is not that some run more risks than others”, he points out, “it is simply company policy.”
The air traffic controllers operating in Tenerife North on Sunday issued a tweet in which they pointed out that yesterday’s operation required fine spinning. “The problem with operating departures and arrivals by opposite tracks is that you have to thread very fine. The colleagues from Tenerife North are doing it,” read the tweet.
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