Chaos at Lima airport due to technical failure leaves passengers stranded and flights canceled

A short circuit in the runway lights at Lima airport on Sunday night caused chaos for hours in Peru’s air passenger transport, with dozens of flights canceled and others diverted and thousands of passengers stranded.

The waiting rooms of the country’s main air terminal were, for hours, full of people looking for information in the midst of uncertainty. The same thing happened at other airports in the interior, affected by the incident.

After 05:00 local time, the Ministry of Transportation announced that air activity was restarted once the electrical problem was resolved, but it recommended that passengers consult with the airlines about the status of their flights.

The Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima has been in operation for more than 60 years, it is located 11 kilometers northwest of the capital, in Callao, and it is expected to stop operating at the end of the year after the current start-up of a new terminal. under construction with an investment of more than 2,000 million dollars by private parties.

On Sunday night, the airport informed passengers and users that the runway edge lighting system “is out of service,” so flight departures and arrivals “are temporarily suspended.”

The failure caused the delay of departure flights, while arrivals were diverted to alternate airports, he added.

The airport pointed out that the lighting system is managed by the state Corporation of Peruvian Airports and Commercial Aviation (Corpac), an institution that in messages on the X network said that its team managed to identify the failure in one of the circuits of the electrical system of the airports. lights on the runway and managed to repair it.

He regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers, but said he prioritized “the operational safety of the flights.”

The Government assured that it was providing assistance to travelers after the massive cancellation of flights and diversions caused by the electrical failure.

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