The Pope

I went last night, roof over arrivals collapsed... they bus passengers off airport after going through passport and luggage collection. It's going to take some time to fix that roof!

Mrs titleist

Just rang Monarch, they say only a 20 min delay tomorrow ?????????????

tombo

What a jerry built dump. A local squal blows the roof off arrivals and damages
the control tower.

Maybe they will hand back the euro funding for the renovation off this airport.

Nettienut

We flew back to Gatwick with Monarch yesterday evening, no delay to speak of, flight left shortly after scheduled time Long queue for security, but nothing like I've seen in some airports who haven't just had a disruption due to unusual weather conditions. I feel the staff coped well - at the end of the day, these things happen and life is too short to get stressed by it all

newintavira

Absolutely! And I can vouch that that storm was pretty mental, unlike anything I have seen here in a couple of years...it blew the top of a couple of palm trees here.

Nettienut

Yes that storm was the worst one I've seen/heard in Tavira - the palm trees down our road were pretty battered too. But Tavira Verde had cleared everything up by the time we returned after lunch.

scott909

I've just been at Faro airport and I have new info:

The airport terminal has now been completely closed due to health and safety, and the entire airport is operating out of the tour bus car park, they do check in in the outside car park, put you on a bus and ship you straight to the plane, and off you go

http://www.ana.pt/portal/page/portal...HPND=115576849

newintavira

Is it a shambolic nightmare Scott, or is it being well managed?

Any indication of how long this will go on for?

From PT News:

Faro Airport has announced it will be temporarily closing its main terminal from midday today to ensure the safety of passengers and employees following the destruction caused by the strong winds on Monday, taking into account the gale-force winds predicted for today (Wednesday). Check-in and security procedures will be relocated to other parts of the airport and is expected to take twice as long. Passengers should go to car park P6 to be processed. The terminal will remain closed until weather conditions improve and allow it to be safely reopened.

scott909

It's actually being handled seemingly well. Things are moving, and flights seem to be taking off/departing with around 1 hour delays. I've seen much worse in the U.K... However, if rain comes, I really feel for the poor people out in the car park.

All the police there told me that the airport would remain shut until the end of the day.

newintavira

Thanks Scott, good to know, have family leaving tomorrow

scott909

I am also leaving Faro airport tomorrow for a trip back to the U.K. Just had a text off of EasyJet telling me to allow more time than usual for check in procedures. All flights now leaving are very delayed.

newintavira

Well, the wind is certainly picking up outside now! Have a good journey

jess852

WARNING TO ALL PASSENGERS FLYING FROM FARO AIRPORT. We have been trying to get back to Leeds Bradford since Monday, and we are still stuck in Portugal!

We were supposed to fly on Monday, but when were told delays were inevitable and impossible to predict after the storm the night before, we decided to leave the airport and book new flights for today (travelling with a sick 1 year old baby, we chose not to sit on the floor with the crowds without any definite answer whether the flight would be leaving at all).

Got to the airport at 12 today to find that due to bad weather on the way(again), the government have decided to close the terminals in fear of the roof collapsing even more. Currently, the only way to get to check in is by getting a bus from the carpark where you wait with all other passengers from all other flights. Completely understandable due to weather conditions, but very badly organised.

So we stood in the carpark for 2 hours where we were told to wait for our bus, and assured that there would definitely be one, not to worry. Found some more passengers from our flight, each of which had also asked numerous times about our flight as it was supposed to leave at 13.20. Still stood around at 13.40, with no news. We asked again for news about our flight, and we were told to wait.

At about 14.30 the 16.00 Ryanair Manchester flight was called to board the bus to check in, and we were told that our Ryanair plane had made the decision to leave without all of us. There was nothing anyone could do, and we should probably just go home and book another flight. Another 400 Euros down the drain, and absolutely no news from Ryanair regarding compensation despite phonecalls.

Completely disorganised, and we are now stuck in Portugal for even longer.

If you are planning on flying from Faro, please be aware that for some people it has been an easy enough experience, but this has not been the case for all.

Calling the airport will not help (we were told there were no problems after calling 3 times to check before leaving the house), and the people who are in charge of the buses may be unable to help also. Hopefully this is an isolated case, but please find out as much information as possible before you fly so that you don´t find yourself in the same situation.

Now pretty desperate to get home...

Mrs titleist

Well Tombo what a quote its very windy at the mo west of Faro but hey not to worry we have had worse. Just hope everybody makes their flights have a safe return journey and come back soon

newintavira

Sorry to hear about your plight Jess.....seems to me a lot of your problem isn't being helped by Ryanair...if you have to book yet more tickets I would suggest booking with another airline who will hopefully take better care of you.