St. John’s, Newfoundland’s airport has a double whammy to deal with this summer: weather, which can always be a challenge considering the blinding fog the Atlantic-coast city is subjetc to, but when a runway is down, and flights are already backed up, people have found themselves stranded for hours!
St. John’s International Airport Authority re-opened the second runway this morning after construction work had focused on the intersection between the first and second runways. The main runway, shut down on June 1, will remain closed until the end of September.
“This has been the worst July in 20 years.”
Researchers had consulted 30 years of weather logs to determine the best time for the construction, but this summer has been an anomaly. “Like everybody, we were hoping Mother Nature would cut us a break,” said Glenn Mahon, the airport’s vice president of operations in an interview with CBC News. “Unfortunately, from a weather perspective we’ve been dealt a very difficult card as this has been the worst July in 20 years.”
The airport has handled 216 delayed or cancelled flights since the construction began, all situations the upgrades are being implemented to prevent. The new equipment will allow more flights to land safely in the fog.
“The airport authority recognizes the disruption to passengers. We feel their pain, we appreciate where they’re coming from,” said Mahon. “This speaks to why we’re doing what we’re doing. We want to implement a long-term sustainable solution to this problem so that we see these passengers not impacted in the future.”
Tuesday was another day of waiting crowds. Hundreds watched for information on cancelled and delayed flights to Calgary, Toronto, Halifax, Montreal and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.