VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Several inbound flights to Malta were diverted to Italian airports late on Monday night and into Tuesday as gale-force winds from Storm Harry disrupted operations at Malta International Airport.
Four flights arriving from Bucharest, Rome, Vilnius and Milan were unable to land as strong crosswinds buffeted the runway, forcing pilots to abort landings or divert to safer alternatives in Italy. Dramatic videos shared on social media showed aircraft struggling in turbulent conditions, with some landings abandoned at the last moment.
Ryanair flight FR9257 from Bucharest, scheduled to arrive at 12.55am on Tuesday, was diverted to Bari after two unsuccessful landing attempts. The aircraft was later rescheduled to arrive in Malta at 11.30am.
Another Ryanair service, flight FR7304 from Vilnius, due to land at 9am, was diverted to Rome Fiumicino before eventually arriving in Malta at 1.40pm. A separate Ryanair flight from Trieste (FR3695), originally scheduled to touch down at 10.55am, was also rerouted to Bari, with its arrival time later updated to 2.39pm.
A further diversion affected Ryanair flight FR5970 from Milan, which was due to arrive at 12.55pm but was sent to Lamezia, Italy, due to the strong winds affecting the Maltese runway.
Footage shared on Facebook showed a Ryanair aircraft being forced to abandon a landing attempt as winds intensified, though the specific flight involved was not immediately identified. On Instagram, traveller Alina Dely described her flight from Barcelona as experiencing “pure turbulence,” sharing videos of passengers applauding the crew after the plane landed successfully on its second attempt.
Her flight had initially failed to land due to what she described as “super strong” winds before returning for another approach. “Once we realised the pilot had managed it, we started to applaud. His voice was so chill and confident, which helped a lot during this situation,” she said, adding that the experience had been “scary.”
While most arrivals were eventually completed, Malta International Airport’s website showed delays of around two hours for flights arriving from Amsterdam. Departures, however, were reported to be operating on schedule despite the adverse weather conditions.
– foto IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
