Staffing issue: No takeoffs or landings at Eindhoven Airport
An air traffic control staffing issue forced the stoppage of all flight movements at Eindhoven Airport on Friday morning. No flights have landed at the airport since 11 p.m. on Thursday, and the last flight to depart from there took off at 7:45 a.m.
The European air traffic control system issued a notification about the problem, stating that no arrivals would take place at the airport until 12:30 p.m. due to air traffic control staffing. It expected that traffic would be more strictly regulated to slowly get caught up. Heavy delays were expected at least past 4 p.m.
“This is a capacity problem in military air traffic control, as a result of which no air traffic is currently possible,” the airport stated on Twitter at 9:30 a.m. The airport received criticism for not communicating the issue sooner.
Six flights were diverted to different airports, including five from different European departure points which landed at Weeze Airport 90 kilometers east in Germany. Another flight landed at Maastricht Aachen Airport about 90 kilometers south.
By 11 a.m., seven other arrivals and 13 departures were showing delays. One departing flight was canceled.
The airport recommended that passengers pay attention to their website for up to date information, or contact their airlines.
