A MAJOR UK airport has been shut down after facing difficulties with one of its runways.
Flights were cancelled and planes grounded overnight with passengers encouraged to check with their airlines to see if their journey has been affected.
Leeds Bradford Airport is expected to remain closed to both departures and arrivals until 5am on Saturday.
Jet setters were warned that the closure could continue on longer.
The first flight out of the closed airport, a Jet2 service to Heraklion in Crete, is expected to leave shortly before 5:25am.
Flights due to land at Leeds Bradford Airport were diverted and sent to other UK airports in the wake of the runway issue.
The busy airport usually operates for 24 hours a day but has been closed now until the issue can be adressed.
Staff at the airport are reportedly working at speed to fix the problem as soon as they can.
The team at Leeds Bradford Airport said that customer safety is their number on priority.
Disappointed holidaymakers can make contact with staff on the ground at terminals to ask any questions about their flights.
A statement on the airport’s website, posted at 10pm, reads: “Due to an unforeseen issue with the runway, we have had to take the decision to close the airport until the morning.
“Customers are advised to check with their airline for the most up-to-date information regarding their flight.
“We are working to resolve the disruption as soon as possible, the safety and comfort of the passengers travelling through our terminal is our number one priority.
“Our team is on the ground in the terminal to answer any customer queries regarding departures.”
Leeds Bradford Airport was granted planning permission to operate round the clock in 1994.
Dozens of flights take off and land at the busy midlands airport on a day-by-day basis.
According to the airport’s website there is a designated night-time flight period.
This lasts from 11pm to 7am every evening with only the quietest jets permitted to operate between these hours.
Here’s the full list of best to worst UK airports according to Which?
- Exeter
- Liverpool (John Lennon)
- London City
- Bournemouth
- Newcastle
- Norwich
- Inverness
- Cardiff
- Southampton
- Belfast City
- East Midlands
- Glasgow International
- London Heathrow T5
- Edinburgh
- Leeds Bradford
- Aberdeen
- Birmingham
- Bristol
- London Gatwick North
- London Heathrow T2
- Belfast International
- London Gatwick South
- London Heathrow T4
- London Heathrow T3
- London Stansted
- Manchester Terminal 2
- London Luton
- Manchester T1
- Manchester T3