Diversion to LGG.

[airazurxtror]

It may interest some readers to know what happens when a flight is diverted from Charleroi (CRL) to Liège (LGG).
Yesterday, I was on board flight FR6108 who took off from ROM/CIA on time, at around 20.50.
About one hour later, the captain warned us that the weather at CRL was not good, that the airport was actually closed, but he hoped the situation would improve, otherwise we would have to land at Liège.
We circled over CRL for a good 35 minutes, together with two other Ryanair flights, then took the direction of Liège. The captain told us that both the weather and the landing aids were better there.
We landed in third position at 23.20.
Liège is not really able to cope with three unexpected landings at the same time (with full loads of pax).
There were no stairs available for the rear doors. That was not important, as there was only one coach available to ferry the passengers from the aircraft to the terminal. Three successive coach trips for each plane.
I was in the last one, and we had to wait for 20 minutes to disembark. Needless to say, the passengers mobile phones were fully in action inside the plane despite the theoretical interdiction...
The baggages were awaiting us, and a coach was also waiting to bring us to Charleroi airport, which I reached at 1 am. Yes, the parking lot was kept open and manned, as it should have been.
Strangely enough, at that moment, there seemed to be less fog at Charleroi than at Liège one hour or two before...
All in all, we reached CRL some two and a half hours late ...

[earthman]

What happened to the passengers waiting for their flight at CRL? Did a bus take them to LGG? Or were they left stranded in the usual LCC way?

[sn26567]

Interesting experience.

Strangely enough, at that moment, there seemed to be less fog at Charleroi than at Liège one hour or two before...

Fog was not the problem. Snow was!

What happened to the passengers waiting for their flight at CRL? Did a bus take them to LGG? Or were they left stranded in the usual LCC way?

Well, I guess that the aroplanes were ferried to CRL later during the night. The first passengers leave from CRL around 6:30 am...

[JVJASON]

The planes weren't ferried to CRL during the night (CRL is closed each night); the 4 first flights this morning (between approx. 6:30 and 7:15) were cancelled, and no plane was visible at the apron at 6:45.

I guess the planes arrived at CRL later, as the other flights departed following schedule.

[speedbird1]

Good to hear some positive news regarding Ryanair. Many thanks for the report.

Emirates

[regi]

Is this positive news?

[b720]

rather positive, I am impressed that tey actually arranged to bus their passengers to charleloi.. They could have dumped them in liege at 23:00..try to get anywhere at that hour on public transport...

[OO-SBZ]

rather positive, I am impressed that tey actually arranged to bus their passengers to charleloi.. They could have dumped them in liege at 23:00..try to get anywhere at that hour on public transport...

[Acid-drop]

I'm a bit suprised that Liège isnt capable of managing 3 planes in the same time ...
It's probably more a problem of handling staff, not a problem of hardware.
I'm not sure they can call back everybody in such a short delay.
I guess they'll work on that since divertion to LGG are quite usual in the winter.

Anyway, You arrive in charleroi less than 2 hours after the landing, and that's not bad at all I think. LGG seems to be quite a good alternative.

But I still dont understand why they take off empty from LGG in the morning and why they dont arrive earlyer ...

[airazurxtror]

I have had a bit more information at the Salon des Vacances, yesterday.
Usually, at LGG, the passengers aircraft are parked near the terminal, and there is no need for the pax to be carried by coach to their plane.
At night, the freight aircraft take up the places near the terminal, and the unexpected passenger aircraft are parked farther away. And, yes, there is only one coach available to carry the passengers to the terminal...