Delays and diversions at a Canary Islands airport due to a drone

Gran Canaria Airport was forced to close last night, Friday April 12^th, causing flight diversions and delays due to a drone flying in its air space. According to reports from Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) on X, its presence was spotted by ground crew and verified by airport personnel at around 9pm, before being communicated to flight crews.

Both departures and arrivals were stopped at the airport, resulting in incoming flights from other destinations being diverted to alternative airports on different islands for safety reasons.

A total of 12 diversions occurred, with flights diverted to Tenerife South, Tenerife North, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura airports.

Just after 10pm, the airport restarted operations and ATC posted that “it would take some time to return to normality, but they are working as diligently as possible to catch up with delays."