Is Lanzarote Airport closed? Latest update after calima brings intense haze to Canary Island forcing airport to shut and flights cancelled

The airport was forced to temporarily suspend all flights yesterday (Monday 19 August) due to intense haze and poor visibility caused by the calima that is affecting the island. Aena, a Spanish airport authority that operates Lanzarote’s airport, confirmed that 12 flights, including international arrivals from Leeds, Birmingham, and Dublin, as well as domestic flights from Madrid, Gran Canaria, and Tenerife, were diverted to Fuerteventura.

The severe weather has led to a yellow weather warning for haze and pre-alerts for storms, strong winds, dangerous sea conditions, and high temperatures. The weather initially led to the diversion of flights and later to the suspension of all arrivals until visibility improved.

Operations have restarted at the airport but dozens of flights remain affected by cancellations or delays. Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight with the airline for the latest updates.

Yesterday, Stephen Proctor posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Not much fun down at Lanzarote Airport this morning. Thick fog and near zero visibility.

“Aircraft circling round hoping to get in. Images from Lanzarote Airport Webcam. Got worse and worser in 10 minutes.”

The calima, or haze in English, is a sandstorm that engulfs the Canary Islands in a dense cloud of hot, dusty wind blown in from the Sahara. Data shows a startling 483 episodes of calima since 1980 across the islands an average of 24 stormy days per year. Such storms usually last around 1.8 days each.