All landings at the Geneva Airport have been suspended due to a fire at a nearby building
Thick black smoke from a nearby burning building temporarily stopped all arrivals at the airport in Geneva, Switzerland on Friday afternoon. Departures from the country’s second-busiest airport were left to the pilots’ discretion. The fire broke out at a reception facility for asylum-seekers that was under construction.
“Due to a fire at the edge of the runway, landings and take-offs have been suspended since 5:35 p.m.” tweeted the airport’s official account. “A reopening of the runway, for takeoffs initially, is envisaged around 7 p.m.” local time.
According to airport spokesman Ignace Jeannerat, the “new reception center for asylum-seekers – which was under construction… it is on fire. It is outside the airport perimeter.”
“It is creating a lot of smoke,” Jeannerat added.
It is up to the pilots whether their flights will depart from the airport, he explained, while all the arrivals have been suspended for the time being.
Hours ago , explosion and fire at the new reception centre building for asylum-seekers next to Geneva International Airport (GVA) disrupted flights. Flights are either holding or being diverted to other airports.
📹 Alexandra La Guardia#airport #fire #flights pic.twitter.com/keJ23UM5VE
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) May 20, 2022
The airport, located next to the Swiss border with France, has a single concrete runway almost 4km long. It is the second-busiest airport in Switzerland, after Zurich. According to reporters on the scene, incoming flights from Lisbon, Barcelona and Madrid have already been diverted, while other arrivals are showing as delayed.
RT (Russia Today) is a state-owned news organization funded by the Russian government. The information provided by this news source is being included by the Libertarian Hub not as an endorsement of the Russian government, but rather because it is being actively censored by Big Tech, Western governments and the corporate press. During times of conflict it is imperative that we have access to both sides of the story so we can form our own opinions, even if both sides are spewing their own propaganda. The censorship of RT, despite likely being a propaganda outfit for the Russian government, reduces our ability to hear one side of the conflict. For that reason, the Libertarian Hub will temporarily republish the RSS feed from RT. Visit https://rt.com