More than 50 flights were delayed and 12 were diverted from Jorge Newbery Airport, which the airport said was due to maintenance work that needed to be carried out in a sector adjacent to the runway entrance due to loosening of the asphalt.
The airfield was closed to operations between approximately 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., initially due to maintenance work in a sector adjacent to the southern end of the runway, scheduled between 2:20 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. and were then initially extended until 3:25 p.m. and later until 5:00 p.m. as the work could not be completed within the allotted time.
According to sources, the maintenance work carried out was complicated as this part of the runway suffered some landslides due to the storm a few days ago and the prevailing intense heat, which had to be cleared and the work had to be canceled as per protocol.
The affected sector does not correspond to the runway itself, but to one of the locations around Header 31, which is located in the southern area of the Aeroparque.
As of 5 p.m. operations have resumed, both for take-offs and landings, but due to the so-called “domino effect” there will certainly be delays for the rest of the day, both for the flights that were unable to take off and for the flights that were diverted to Ezeiza and must return to resume their service.
Aeropuertos Argentina sources told Agencia Noticias Argentinas that the work was due to “during a routine inspection of the runway, cracks and small separations were found in the area near the south head, adjacent to the taxiway.”
They explained that while the affected area is not on the runway and does not impede the normal flow of operations, “the possibility of a major separation at the very point where the aircraft are transmitting the greatest power to the engines could result in choking and consequent damage to the aircraft.”
“Then it was decided to carry out the work to remove the separated parts and the task took a little longer than originally planned, but as of 5:00 p.m. operations were resumed normally,” they stated.__IP__
They also announced that the timing of the consolidation work in the affected area is being analyzed with the Aviation Authority, which will require another suspension of operations.
“We anticipate the time when this task can be carried out with the least disruption to flights may be in the early hours of the morning, but some of the services will inevitably have to be rescheduled,” they concluded.
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