Sharm El Sheikh Airport Closure - Any Info?

grambo

Some friends are departing to Sharm El Sheik today, and have been told that the airport was hit by lightning last night and has been closed, and that their flight is subject to a minimum delay of 5 hours, does anybody out there have any more knowledge of the situation?

Many thanks.

Cityboy_2

grambo wrote: »

Some friends are departing to Sharm El Sheik today, and have been told that the airport was hit by lightning last night and has been closed, and that their flight is subject to a minimum delay of 5 hours, does anybody out there have any more knowledge of the situation?

Many thanks.

Flightstats is reporting arrivals and departures at SSH today but I have noticed that one flight (TOM544 ex Bristol) has a departure delay of 235 mins currently. That doesn't suggest that SSH has a problem but maybe Thomsonfly does.

samui13

I own an apartment out in Sharm ( Nabq ) and yesterday they experienced a very bad storm. All mobile phones are down in Sharm at the moment and most of Sharm is without power. The airport was hit by lightning last night. Torrentural rain fell and most apartment have been flooded. Some roads have been washed away. Sharm has never experienced anything like this before. My wife has just booked a flight to go and assess the damage tomorrow. We have only been back in the UK 2 weeks from our christmas stay out there. I have many friends out there, but cant contact them due to the phone networks being down.. The best place to look for up to date info is stayinsharm.com

Bongedone

samui13 wrote: »

I own an apartment out in Sharm ( Nabq ) and yesterday they experienced a very bad storm. All mobile phones are down in Sharm at the moment and most of Sharm is without power. The airport was hit by lightning last night. Torrentural rain fell and most apartment have been flooded. Some roads have been washed away. Sharm has never experienced anything like this before. My wife has just booked a flight to go and assess the damage tomorrow. We have only been back in the UK 2 weeks from our christmas stay out there. I have many friends out there, but cant contact them due to the phone networks being down.. The best place to look for up to date info is stayinsharm.com

There is nowhere on that website for up to date info on the freak weather conditions. Is that an advert?

Mands

grambo wrote: »

Some friends are departing to Sharm El Sheik today, and have been told that the airport was hit by lightning last night and has been closed, and that their flight is subject to a minimum delay of 5 hours, does anybody out there have any more knowledge of the situation?

Many thanks.

There's a large low pressure system sitting over the area. It's producing heavy rain and a significant number of lightening strikes.

I've no knowledge of Sharm itself but what you're describing fits with the reported weather.

You can see the storm on following site;

http://euro.wx.propilots.net/index.html

Select USAF -> Surface Analysis from the drop down box in the top left hand corner. The orange marks are lightning strikes.

Mands

miamoo

There is a thread over on Tripadvisor called 'rain' with the latest news

wait57

We flew back from Sharm to Scotland overnight, having been delayed 24 hours due to the storm. We were evacuated from Terminal 2 around 10pm on Monday night, just as the ceiling started to come down. Its amazing that no-one was hurt (or not as far as we know). We had to walk with our luggage to Terminal 1 through torrential rain, lightening and crossed roads which were ankle deep in water. Eventually we were taken to a hotel through flooded roads, which was all a bit scary. Our coach managed to get through, but we saw taxis which couldn't get through the flood water and were stranded on the road to the airport.
Staff at the Jaz Belvedere and the reps (especially Mark) did the best they could in exceptional circumstances. In the morning we saw staff up on the roofs of the hotel buildings checking the damage. Many rooms had serious leaks and flooded floors. The staff were great, and at breakfast we were met with a cheery 'good morning' from the waiter.
At the airport last night we had to carry our luggage to the plane, where it was loaded into the hold. The departure lounge was a bit chaotic, with so many people and their luggage, but most people were patient and just glad that things were getting back to normal.
I'm not sure how the hotels, restaurants and locals are coping with the aftermath as we didn't see anything other than the Belvedere. Good luck to anyone who is going to Sharm this week. Despite the storm, Sharm a great place for a holiday - this was our second time and we really enjoyed it. The people are so helpful and friendly, and I'm sure they'll do their best to make your holiday as relaxed as possible.

snapping_crocodile

My mum lives out there and she said it is the worst rain they have had in 15 years or more :eek:

mummyd_2

hi my mum and aunt are due to fly to sharm on thur for a cruise with thomson.:eek: all ok for it to go ahead?

thanks in advance

MrsE_2

Wow what is going on with the weather?
With the natural world in general?

Its a desert, why are they having such bad rain?
I know it rains there sometimes, but I thought it was rare?

joaniemerc

OMG! I'm shocked to read this. Was in Sharm for Christmas. I really feel for the locals, they work for little money and some can really struggle to support their families. Now, on top of that, having to deal with possible flood damage to property and belongings. V. sad.