Tourists left stranded at Madeira Airport after flights cancelled due to wildfires

Passengers were forced to sleep on the floor of the airport after flights were cancelled or delayed

Flights to and from Madeira are returning to normal after wildfires caused delays, cancellations and diversions.

The fires, which broke out around six days ago in the rural area of Ribeira Brava, continue to blaze through 3,000 hectares of forest near the town of Camara de Lobos and close to the popular beach area of Ponta do Sol.

As the fire service tried to tame the fires, around 160 people were evacuated on Sunday as a precaution. So far, no injuries or fatalities have been reported.

The Portuguese island is a popular holiday destination for tourists in the summer months.

Between Saturday and Monday, Madeira’s Funchal Cristiano Ronaldo airport had experienced at least 56 cancellations, around 24 per cent of arriving and 12 per cent of departing flights from the island, FlightRadar reported.

Smoke rises from a forest fire on the hills of Serra de Agua in Ribeira Brava on Monday (EPA)

There were around 24 diverted incoming flights. Ryanair experienced most of the disruptions with six of its flights directed away from Madeira.

The airport that received the most diverted planes was Lisbon in Portugal, while Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Arrecife, and Barcelona also received some of the arrivals.

As of Tuesday morning, FlightRadar’s data shows that most flights have landed at the airport with some delays. Flights out of the airport on Tuesday have also been departing largely on time.

Local media had reported that in previous days Madeira’s airport became almost like “a dormitory,” with stranded passengers sleeping on the floor.

Hundreds of passengers had nowhere to stay over the weekend, Madeira Island News reported.

The south coastline of Madeira was placed on ‘orange alert’ as of Monday (EPA)

Around 200 firefighters, many of whom had been sent over from the mainland, tackled the fires, but low humidity and the strength of the winds made the operation difficult.

“This fire, which is very dangerous, I have no doubt it was caused by arson in an inaccessible area where air support could not operate,” the president of the regional government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, told reporters.

The entire south coastline of Madeira, which is an autonomous region of Portugal with around 250,000 residents, has been placed on “orange alert“as of Monday, the second highest level, due to the high temperatures.

The Independent has contacted Madeira airport for comment.

For more travel news and advice, listen to Simon Calder’s podcast