HAILSTORMS caused the Airport’s runway to be closed yesterday afternoon and led to a delay of more than seven hours for one Jersey-bound flight.
The downpour at around 4pm left the runway temporarily unusable, with inbound planes forced to circle until they were permitted to land after the hail had melted.
The worst-affected flight was the easyJet service from Birmingham, due to land at 4.20pm, which was forced to return to its departure point.
Passengers waiting in Jersey for the 5pm return service to Birmingham were transferred to a different plane, although this service was delayed because the operatives in charge of re-fuelling had to be called back from home, eventually departing at 9.30pm.
After the Jersey flight landed in Birmingham, the aircraft was used for the original service delayed by the runway closure. This service departed soon after 11pm, eventually landing in Jersey at 11.54pm.
One passenger travelling to Birmingham said: “It was a frustrating delay – obviously there was nothing that could be done about the weather, but we also waited almost an hour for our aircraft to be refueled.
“We were told that the staff who do the fueling had gone home at the normal time and had to be called back – that situation made the delay significantly worse, also affecting the later flight back to Jersey.”
