Canary Island airport operations 'paralyzed' due to massive dust storm visible from space

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A massive sandstorm visible from space is causing travel chaos in Spain.

According to reports, hundreds of travelers are stranded at airports in certain areas of the Canary Islands due to the extreme weather conditions. A large dust cloud from the Sahara is reportedly so heavy in the area that the sky appears to be orange.

Outbound flights from Tenerife are grounded and all flights at Gran Canaria airport have been suspended, The Sun reports. The outlet reports that nearly 230 flights were affected.

The Air Traffic Control Twitter page for Spain published footage of the conditions at the Tenerife Airport, which shows the entire airport covered by the dust cloud.

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A local meteorologist shared an image on Twitter of the airport alongside aerial footage of the area that shows that massive dust cloud. She described airport operations at Gran Canaria as “paralyzed.”

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One traveler, Heather Shenton, discussed her family’s situation with The Sun as they attempted to travel back to England from the airport in Tenerife. According to her, “It's all right for me and my husband because we're retired. But my daughter will miss work and my grandsons will miss school. It was absolute chaos at the airport. The children were complaining that they had sand in their eyes. We only budgeted for a week and we don't know how we're going to pay for things.”

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Jet2 tweeted about the situation, explaining that they were experiencing “intermittent closure of airspace around the Canary Islands due to adverse weather.” They recommended that travelers check their website for flight status updates.