The cancellation of more than almost a dozen flights from Lanzarote to Madrid from Saturday to this Monday as a result of the snowstorm that hit the capital of Spain has left many university students on the island, unable to return to their places of study. "I don't understand why the flights are not leaving yet," one of those affected told La Voz.
Óscar Betancort, as this young man is called, studies at the University of Alcalá de Henares and, after having come to Lanzarote to spend Christmas with his family, he was scheduled to return to the island last Saturday. However, the historic snowfall that Filomena left in Madrid, cut short his plans.
"I was supposed to fly with Iberia Express on Saturday, but it was canceled. They changed it to Monday, but now it has also been canceled," said this Lanzarote student. "I'm a little frustrated, because I thought I was going to be able to fly," added Óscar Betancort after seeing his flight canceled for the second time. In addition, he stated that now the company has given him the flight for next Saturday, so if face-to-face classes resume in Madrid this week, he will not be able to attend.
Many other Lanzarote students have found themselves in this same situation, such as Alejandro Muzás, who was also going to return to Madrid on Saturday and has also seen his flight canceled twice. "I'm at the airport to see if I can fly somehow," he said at noon this Monday.
Cancellations continue this Monday
According to Aena, although the Madrid-Barajas airport began to resume operations on the afternoon of this Sunday, flights are still not operating in Terminal 1 and in terminals T4 and T4s activity is being recovered "gradually" while "the cleaning of runways continues".
In total, the snowstorm in Madrid left eight operations (departures and arrivals) with Lanzarote canceled on Saturday and another six on Sunday, half of which would have been departures from the island. For this Monday, four operations between Lanzarote and Madrid were planned, two departures and two arrivals, and three of them have already been canceled.
Specifically, according to Aena, both the departure and arrival of an Iberia flight have been canceled, as well as the departure of a Ryanair flight from Madrid. These cancellations have also left Lanzarote residents who had traveled to the Peninsula and were supposed to have returned to the island in these days stranded.
"The Iberia flight that was supposed to come from Madrid this morning was canceled one hour before the flight. The passengers got to enter the terminal, passed the security check and checked in their luggage, and once they were inside, the screens showed that the flight was canceled," said a Lanzarote resident who was waiting for the arrival of a group of people to the island this Monday and who pointed out that the cancellation has generated "outrage" among the passengers.
