Flights delayed for 3 hours

Several airline flights were delayed and passengers had a three-hour wait yesterday after the Airports Authority of TT (AATT) closed the runway at Piarco International Airport. In a media release, AATT said at 1.30 pm after the take off of a regular flight, “foreign object debris” was observed on the runway. The entire area was immediately closed and the Authority’s duty manager and engineers carried out an inspection, following which contractors of Jusamco Pavers Limited were called in to assess the damage and do repairs. “As a result of this inspection, the affected portion of the runway was taken out of service, thereby reducing the effective length of the runway by 150 metres,” AATT said.

The remaining portion was subsequently re-opened at 4.30 pm to both incoming and outgoing traffic. AATT assured that the available runway will permit safe movement of aircraft including the Airbus (the largest commercial aircraft using the facility). It said the overall impact of the closure was a delay of approximately three hours. AATT said all efforts were made to keep passengers informed and as comfortable as possible during the period. Contacted for comment yesterday, an official at BWIA said a number of flights were delayed but “things were getting back to normal.”