Spain flights: Alicante Airport evacuated as fire breaks out – are your flights disrupted?

Alicante flights have been disrupted after a fire broke out at the airport in Spain. The blaze on the terminal roof forced buildings and planes to be evacuated. Alicante is a port city on Spain’s southeastern Costa Blanca hugely popular with British holidaymakers.

Airport operator Aena tweeted: “For security reasons the airport terminal is being evacuated away from Alicante-Elche due to a fire on the deck.”

Flights have been diverted to nearby airports, it has been reported.

One flight was rerouted to Valencia and three more to Murcia, according to Aena.

Ryanair flight FR1423 from Milan to Alicante was diverted to Murcia, with a delay of around four minutes, reported FlightRadar24.

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The fire is now under control, said Aena, thanks to firefighters on the scene within half an hour. The area is said to be “being ventilated.”

No injuries have been reported, according to Spanish website diarioinformacion.

Flights are expected to resume soon but arrivals will not yet be allowed to land, said Aena.

Passengers are set to face severe delays as a result of the fire.

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Alarming video footage posted to Twitter shows thick clouds of smoke billowing from the airport roof.

Photos from the scene also show huge crowds of passengers waiting outside in the evacuation.

The fire is believed to have started inside an office in the terminal building, reported diarioinformacion.

Cameron Stocks, 26, who was visiting family in Alicante this week, told MailOnline: “We haven’t been allowed back in yet. We have been told there is a 2/3 hour wait to see if the fire is controllable and then we will be told if flights can depart today.

“There are now a substantial number of police and fire brigade keeping everyone back from the terminal but information is disseminated slowly.

“There was a lot of confusion to begin with as my group had already passed passport control and were due to board so we were simply herded into a corner”

Passengers at Alicante Airport have taken to Twitter to share their experiences.

“In Alicante airport car park,” one flier tweeted. “Terminal evacuated as smoke and flames on roof about Gates B, ( I saw them from inside airport).

“@Ryanair be good to know what’s happening. So far nothing on twitter and no email.

Very glad, I bought baguette, water and coffee.”

Another posted: “Emergency at Alicante Airport, terminal evacuated #alicanteairport Police and fire engines in attendance.”

The Costa Blanca airport is the fifth-busiest in Spain. In 2019, 15 million passengers passed through the airport.

source: express.co.uk