Gibraltar Airport suffered a major flooding incident in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A high-pressure water main burst on the first floor of the Air Terminal and flooded parts of the building, including shops, the baggage reclaim area on the ground floor, Search and Screening facilities, server rooms which control systems such as the airport website, flight information and check-in systems, and other associated back-of-house areas.

The combination of water pressure and high volume damaged flooring, ceilings and light fittings, and effectively rendered the building unusable. All the relevant technical, operational and cleaning staff were recalled to deal with what had become a major incident.

After taking the appropriate steps to make the areas safe, work commenced on removing the accumulated water, clearing debris and tackling water damage. The necessary Business Continuity Plans were also activated and airlines informed.

The possibility of diverting and operating via Malaga Airport was not available as ground handlers there were taking industrial action, so airlines could not pursue this option.

British Airways opted to cancel the first outbound flight BA511. However, their inbound flight, BA498, landed in Gibraltar and passengers were disembarked and processed via the Wessex Lounge. The second British Airways flight, BA492/493, operated as normal but with an outbound delay, as did easyJet flight EZY6533/6534.

The Air Terminal was fully operational again just after midday, although some systems and processes were still not working at full capacity. Work continues to restore these.

Management would like to thank the prompt response of staff and personnel, as well as the offers of support and assistance from partner agencies and organisations. Without the efforts made by all, the Air Terminal would in all probability not have been operational at all today, which could have led to more flight cancellations and further disruption.

The Chief Minister said:

"I want to thank everyone at GATL who helped out today to turn this situation around so quickly. There are unforeseeable problems that sometimes arise and the team at GATL did an excellent job of turning things around quickly to avoid greater disruption and delay on a peak day for travel. My sincere thanks to all. We are all, obviously, very sorry for those who have seen their travel delayed or cancelled and disrupted."