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Innsbruck airport hit by bad weather

Flights were delayed as poor visibility and strong winds forced places to divert on Saturday. The airport serves many of the Austrian ski areas though is prone to closure.

One flight was coming into land when the pilot had to abort the attempt and divert to Munich.

It was simply too risky for the Easyjet flight EZ 5397 from Gatwick to Innsbruck to land.

Many skiers and snowboarders had their journey disrupted and arrived in their resort several hours late. The airport was not fully closed though and some planes were able to take off and land.

Reaction among the passengers was mixed.

“These things happen from time to time and it is part of getting too and from a ski resort,” was what one British passenger on the flight said. He was travelling to Obergurgl and arrived three hours late.

“It was not very nice to suddenly have the engines come fully back on and the plane head skywards. It was not a moment for the nervous flyer.”

The airport is susceptible to the weather as it is in a narrow valley but it is close to many of the ski resorts in the Tirol and has a much shorter transfer time than Zurich or Munich.

Road and rail travel in the area had some disruption on Saturday morning as snow fell but it was quickly cleared.

Some trains in the area ran 20 minutes late.

Austrian Alps on Saturday 11th December

Austrian Alps on Saturday 11th December

On Sunday morning the road to Obergurgl was closed as the authorites carried out controlled avalanches to make the access road safe.

They used helicopters to drop charges.

There was also some blasting on the ski slopes.

For the spirit of the mountains