Las Americas International Airport was closed temporarily on the evening of 7 April for the repair of a detachment in the runway asphalt pavement surface, Aerodom, the Vinci airport concessionaire reported via X. Vinci/Aerodom reported that the airport closed in the understanding that safety is first.
Luis José López, communications director for the airport, explained that the hole was caused when a JetBlue airplane, returning from the United States, descended using an area of the runway under repair, as reported in Listin Diario.
Around 9pm on 7 April 2024 the main runway 17-35 at Las Americas International was closed to outgoing and incoming air traffic for the repair of a detachment in the runway asphalt pavement surface. Asphalt for airport runways and taxiways needs to withstand high speed, high friction and high loads unlike any road.
Flights were diverted to other airports. Others circulated above for around an hour waiting to be cleared for landing. Other flights were not allowed to depart from their destination until cleared.
The runway reopened at 12:35am and all flights were resumed.
Listin Diario reports that due to the three-hour shutdown, some nine flights were affected, three canceled and seven diverted to alternate airports.
The situation occurred around nine at night and was restored at 12:30 midnight. Major inconveniences were caused to passengers who had reservations to leave and to those who should have landed.
Diario Libre reports that US$150 million was made in 2023 to renovate a section of the Las Americas Airport, as part of routine pavement maintenance. It involved placement of 54,000 meters of new asphalt and renewal of another 57,000 square meters.
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Twitter/X Aerodom
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
Listin Diario
Noticias SIN
N Digital
N Digital
9 April 2024