Air Canada AC624 crash still causing Halifax airport problems
Stretch of good weather limiting impact of reduced runway services
The Halifax runway shut down by the crash landing of Air Canada Flight 624 will re-open Thursday at 8 p.m., but bad weather could still see flights diverted as full repairs continue.
Halifax Stanfield International Airport said the runway has been cleaned and passed tests about its surface and lighting systems.
"Low visibility such as fog or heavy snow could still lead to airline schedule disruptions," the airport said in a post to its website.
"There is more work to be done before the main runway will be fully available. NAVCanada is working diligently to bring the damaged antenna array back into service as soon as possible. A timeframe for the main runway's full availability is still uncertain."
The loss of one of the airport's main runways likely affected 10 flights on Saturday.
For the most part, good weather has kept the runway open since the crash landing. On average 100 flights land each day at the airport this time of year, said Peter Spurway, vice-president of corporate communications for the airport.
Low visibility and wind strength/direction caused flight issues today. Hoping for better conditions tomorrow. Regret the inconvenience.
—@HfxStanfield"We've just had one day on which there was an impact on airline schedules," said Spurway.
The 10 flights impacted were diverted to other airports due to low visibility in Halifax, he said. Airlines aren't required to report information about diverted flights to the airport, said Spurway, adding Halifax Stanfield staff does its "best to track diversions/cancellations."
Spurway said he believes each of the 10 diverted flights came to Halifax later that day.
He said it's fair to believe that some of the diversions would not have happened if both runways were available.
"What we don't know for sure is precisely how many would have come in if our main runway was available," Spurway said.