Madeira ’s flights are returning to a normal schedule after wildfires caused delays, cancellations and diversions. The fires that broke out around six days ago in the rural area of Ribeira Brava continued to blaze through 3,000 hectares of forest to the neighbouring municipality of Camara de Lobos and close to the popular beach area of Ponta do Sol. As the fire service tried to tame the fires, around 160 people were evacuated on Sunday out of the affected areas as a precaution.
So far, no injuries or fatalities have been reported. The Portuguese island is a popular holiday destination for tourists in the summer months. Between Saturday and Monday, Madeira ’s Funchal Cristiano Ronaldo airport has experienced over 56 cancellations, which is around 24 per cent of arriving and 12 per cent of departing flights from the island, FlightRadar reported.
There were around 24 diverted flights inbound to the airport. Ryanair experiencing most of the disruptions with six of their flights directed away from Madeira. The airport that received the most diverted planes was Lisbon in Portugal , while Tenerife , Fuerteventura, Arricife, and Barcelona also received some of the arrivals.
As of Tuesday morning, FlightRadar’s data shows that most flights have landed at the airport with some delays. Flights out of the airport on Tuesday have also been departing largely on time. Local media had reported that in previous days Madeira’s airport became almost like “a dormitory,” with straded .