Travel chaos as Luton airport halts all flights after runway melts

Flights have been suspended at London Luton Airport after high temperatures lifted a small section of the runway



The airport said repairs were under way and it hoped to "resume operations as soon as possible".

Footage shows a large rectangular area on the surface being examined by staff from the airport.

An airport spokesperson said: "Flights are temporarily suspended to allow for an essential runway repair after high surface temperatures caused a small section to lift.

"Engineers are currently on site."

Easyjet said three inbound flights to Luton had been diverted to nearby airports, and flights to and from Belfast, Milan and Palma due to fly were "unfortunately now unable to operate".

Ryanair said it had not cancelled any flights from the airport but had diverted a small number of inbound flights to Stansted.

The airport's website was failing to load for some users as passengers tried find out whether their flights had been disrupted.

RAF stops flights to Brize Norton as ‘runway has melted’



The RAF has halted flights in and out of its biggest airbase after the runway reportedly melted on a day of extremely hot weather.

RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire was forced to divert traffic to other airfields due to safety concerns, a spokesperson said.

A source told Sky News the decision was taken on Monday morning because the runway’s tarmac had melted in the heat.

In a statement the RAF confirmed flights were being sent elsewhere as they could not take off safely from Brize Norton.

The air force said the diversions had not interfered with military business.

The runway at the base usually operates around the clock and is Britain’s main gateway for defence air transport.

Wouldn't it be brilliant if someone invented an RAF plane that could take-off vertically so wouldn't need a runway?

I've got to admit, I'm rather surprised about Brize. Our runways were all concrete and we never had a problem. I also remember when part of the runway at Gaydon needed removal for development purposes, it was found to be extremely solid and the MOD refused to disclose its' composition, much to the contractor's chagrin.