Bristol Airport reopens after thunderstorm damage

Bristol Airport was forced to close on Monday evening (June 22) after lightning during a thunderstorm caused damage to air traffic control systems.

An airport spokesperson said: “Bristol Airport is open after operations were temporarily suspended yesterday evening after a weather-related issue.

“Unfortunately, there will be some disruption to some flights today (June 23) as aircraft were left out of position after being diverted to other airports. 

“We recommend that passengers check their airline’s app or website before travelling.”

He confirmed that an electrical storm over the airport caused damage to air traffic communications equipment, affecting both primary and back-up systems.

“Engineers were quickly on site and worked to identify and then fix what was found to be complex damage to equipment, which involved working closely with Nats (National Air Traffic Services), which operates the air traffic control services at the airport, to resolve the problem,” he added.

“Unfortunately, flights had to be cancelled and diverted during this time and we’re sorry to all passengers who suffered disruption caused by the weather event.

“We’ll be working with Nats to fully understand what happened, but early indications are that several lightning strikes caused damage to equipment.”

The Express reported that five flights, with about 850 passengers, had been diverted from Bristol to Gatwick, with easyJet reportedly providing coaches back to the southwestern airport.

Other reports on social media said flights were also diverted to Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff and Luton airports.

Some flights had returned to normal on Tuesday morning but the airport departures and arrivals boards showed other journeys were still being delayed.