A popular airport was forced to suspend all flights on Monday for three hours due to the heatwave temperatures being experienced in the UK.
Luton Airport is used by airlines including EasyJet, Wizz Air, Ryanair, and TUI, operating across one runway - so when issues occur, the fallout is felt by all.
As temperatures in Luton reached 36C today the tarmac began to melt on the said runway, making it unsafe for scheduled planes to take off.
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The last flight that was able to take off before the airport suspended departures was at 3.07 pm when a spokesperson announced that all flights outbound were suspended and any flights scheduled to arrive at Luton airport were being diverted.
Nearly three hours had passed, when an airport spokesperson confirmed that flights leaving the airport would resume at 5.40 pm. However, inbound flights continued to be suspended or diverted from the Airport.
One furious passenger tweeted: "How long will this take?!?!?"
Another wrote: "They have just closed the runway at Luton airport for at least an hour. We were just about to be pushed back and they stopped everything. Inbound flights are being diverted.”
A spokesperson for Luton Airport said: "The runaway reopened to departing flights at 17.40. Arrivals remain suspended until further notice. We apologise for the inconvenience."
A spokesperson said earlier today: "Following today's high temperatures, a surface defect was identified on the runway.
"Engineers were called immediately to the site- and repair works are currently in progress to resume operations as soon as possible.
"We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused."
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