ARCHIVED - Busiest day so far at Corvera airport as Alicante-Elche gradually re-opens after fire

48 flights at the Region of Murcia International Airport on Thursday

Following the fire which caused the evacuation of the terminal building at Alicante-Elche airport on Wednesday afternoon flights resumed at 14.00 on Thursday and full operational status is gradually being restored, but in the meantime the flights diverted to the Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera have led to the busiest day so far at the airport which celebrated the first anniversary of its inaugural flights on Wednesday.

At last the main concourse of the spacious new airport was a hive of activity as a total of 48 flights were scheduled to land and take off at Corvera during the day, and the arrivals and departures boards, instead of being practically empty and dominated almost exclusively by cities in England, featured a far broader range of destinations. Helsinki, Geneva, Munich, Edinburgh, Stockholm, Oporto, Memmingen, Adana and Cork were among them, and despite being unaccustomed to such a large volume of traffic during the winter it is reported that the airport staff, bolstered by last-minute reinforcements, were coping well.

As the day began it was soon clear that this would be no ordinary day at the airport, with cafeteria staff rushed off their feet by the increased demand for coffee, croissants and the like, and the long queues at check-in and airline information guests added to the sense that, for one day at least, the airport truly was an important part of the European communications network.

Similarly, the taxi ranks outside were busier than ever, with one driver reporting that whereas on a typical day this winter there might be just 11 vehicles awaiting fares outside the terminal (and 22 in summer) on Thursday there were as many as 130!

However, not everything ran smoothly and the hastily arranged coach transport from Corvera to Alicante-Elche for passengers arriving in south-eastern Spain has been affected by queues and significant delays. Frustratingly for some of them, they actually wanted to return home to Murcia but needed to get to Alicante in order to pick up the cars they had left there when catching their outbound flights!

These coach services, though, are laid on by the airlines and any failings in them cannot be attributed to the airport management.

With the fire now fully under control at Alicante-Elche and normality gradually returning to the airport this burst of mid-January activity at Corvera is set to come to an end within the next few hours. However, it has provided proof, if it were needed, that the infrastructure is fully equipped to handle far more traffic than it currently attracts, and this may just help to convince airlines that establishing connections with the Costa Cálida could prove beneficial in the future!

Follow Murcia Today on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest news, events and information in the Region of Murcia and the rest of Spain: https://www.facebook.com/MurciaToday/.