Storm Charles Erased a Third of Lisbon’s Flights in One Morning

Storm Charles tore through Iberia on Wednesday, November 11, and air travel took the first hit. Portugal’s airport operator ANA reported 360 flight movements cancelled by 11 a.m. across Lisbon, Faro, Porto and Madeira, according to The Portugal News. Lisbon alone accounted for 310 of them, most cancelled in advance. The Connexion, citing Flightradar24 data, put Lisbon’s cancellations at roughly a third of its normal traffic, while Madrid lost about 155 flights, around 13 percent of its schedule.

Reuters reported that the storm was less severe than forecasters first feared, after its centre split over the Atlantic before making landfall via the Algarve. Even so, Portugal closed schools and hundreds of supermarkets and businesses, and civil protection crews logged 538 incidents after midnight. In central Spain, more than 3,000 people were evacuated from Piedralaves over concerns about a dam, and Spain’s weather agency warned of serious impacts.

TAP, which carries a large share of the affected flights, is letting passengers booked to travel on November 11 change to flights up to November 17 without a penalty. ANA’s advice is to check flight status with your airline before heading to the airport, because further delays and cancellations were still possible through the day. Madeira, where strong winds regularly ground flights, had lost 22 movements by late morning, and island travelers should expect knock-on delays as aircraft and crews get back into position.

The storm moves east next. Météo-France expects heavy rain across Languedoc, southern Rhône-Alpes and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region on Thursday, November 12, with gusts of 60 to 80 km/h and stronger winds in the Pyrenees. Nice airport had already cancelled its Lisbon and Madrid departures on Wednesday. Charles is the third named storm of the season after Adam and Bruna, and conditions are expected to improve on Friday.

Sources: The Portugal News, Reuters via Yahoo News