Brussels Airlines flights to Madeira disrupted by strong winds, passengers stranded for two days

Passengers travelling with Brussels Airlines to and from the Portuguese island of Madeira faced major disruption this weekend after strong winds prevented aircraft from landing at Funchal Airport for two consecutive days.

According to reports by Het Laatste Nieuws (HLN), several passengers complained about a lack of communication, difficulties finding accommodation and additional expenses after flights were repeatedly cancelled or diverted.

The first disruption occurred on 23 May, when an Airbus A320neo registered OO-SBB attempted to operate the Brussels–Funchal service. Due to winds exceeding operational limits at Funchal Airport, the aircraft diverted to Lisbon before eventually returning to Brussels, where it resumed other scheduled operations.

A second attempt followed on 24 May using another Airbus A320neo, OO-SBD, operating as special flight SN1985. That aircraft also diverted to Lisbon after an unsuccessful landing attempt at Funchal. The following morning, weather conditions improved sufficiently for the aircraft to depart Lisbon and successfully land in Madeira. The return flight eventually arrived back in Brussels on Sunday afternoon, 25 May.

In a statement to Aviation24.be, Brussels Airlines spokesperson Joëlle Neeb confirmed the successful operation on Monday morning: “We were able to land in Funchal this morning and the return flight is expected to land in Brussels within approximately one hour.”

Passengers interviewed by HLN described chaotic scenes at Funchal Airport, with some travellers reportedly forced to arrange and pay for their own hotels after struggling to obtain assistance. Others questioned why aircraft from other airlines appeared able to land while Brussels Airlines flights could not.

Brussels Airlines stated that the diversions were purely safety-related due to strong crosswinds at Funchal, one of Europe’s more challenging airports for flight operations. The airline also indicated that “all reasonably incurred costs” would be reimbursed.