Maia, Portugal, May 26, 2025 (Lusa) - Fog at Porto airport, combined with the temporary inoperability of the instrument landing system (ILS), due to ongoing works at the facility, meant that several flights had to be diverted to other destinations on Monday morning.
"The fog that was felt this morning in the Porto area had some impact on operations at Sá Carneiro Airport, with divergences recorded in the first two hours of operation," explained NAV Portugal, the company responsible for air traffic management, in a written reply sent to the Lusa news agency. "It is important to emphasise that the instrument landing system at Porto Airport is temporarily out of service on a scheduled basis due to the ongoing works on that infrastructure."
It emphasised that "the combination of the temporary unavailability of the ILS and the conditions of reduced visibility explain the restrictions" at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, which is in the municipality of Maia, north of Porto, o nMonday morning.
NAV also stated that "this situation was communicated in good time to all air operators and is part of the usual planning for this type of intervention."
The works are scheduled to take place until February 2026.
Lusa asked ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal, the French-owned company that runs Portugal's commercial airports, how many flights were affected and when the ILS will be operational again, but so far ANA has not replied.
On 27 May 2024, ANA announced that the strengthening of the runway at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, would begin on 31 July of that year, adding that the work would take 19 months and would involve an investment of €50 million.
ANA explained that the work was aimed at "reinforcing the airport's operational conditions, this being the largest intervention carried out on the runway of this infrastructure."
The work on the runway and adjacent areas includes the complete resurfacing of the wear layer of runway 17-35 (the primary runway), structural reinforcement of this runway, adjustment of the geometry of the runway strip and the approach line (light signalling) of runway 17-35, as well as the replacement of the runway lighting systems with LEDs.
The work also includes the complete renovation of the runway drainage system and the installation of civil infrastructure for the implementation of navigation equipment (ILS category II) on the primary runway, which will allow operations in low visibility.
JGS/ARO // ARO.
Lusa
