Storm Adam Shut Ibiza Airport Twice on Sunday, Forcing 16 Diversions and 27 Cancellations

Ibiza Airport stopped all flights twice on Sunday, October 18, 2026, as torrential rain from Storm Adam flooded parts of the airfield. By 7 p.m. local time, airport operator Aena counted 27 cancellations and 16 diversions on domestic and international flights, according to figures it gave the Spanish news agency EFE.

The first halt ran from 10:00 to 11:00 for safety reasons during the heaviest rain. A second followed from 11:15 to 12:15 while crews pumped water off several areas of the airfield, and flights resumed once that work was finished.

What happened at Ibiza

Aena’s first tally, covering the morning closures, was 16 diversions and 5 cancellations, as reported in an earlier EFE dispatch. By the evening the diversion count was unchanged, but cancellations had climbed to 27.

Flights from Bristol, Eindhoven, Madrid, Brussels and Berlin were among those diverted, Periódico de Ibiza reported from Aena’s flight information, and a London flight was canceled. None of the reports AeroCorner reviewed named the airports the jets went to instead.

La Voz de Ibiza counted 17 diversions on Flightradar24 between 9:15 and 12:00, including flights from Manchester, Newcastle and London Stansted. It also reported provisional data from the AEMET weather station at the airport showing 101.9 liters per square meter, about 4 inches (102 mm), of rain by noon.

The trouble did not stop at the runway. Aena said the storm also caused problems in parts of the terminal and outside the building, and the P1 car park was closed for a time after a canopy collapsed.

P1 had reopened by the evening, with one of the Express car park’s two entrances still working, according to EFE. The island council also shut the airport access road in both directions near Platja d’en Bossa, La Voz de Ibiza reported.

During the closure, Spain’s air traffic controllers posted on X that the airport was not operational and that they were handling mass diversions to alternate airports, La Voz de Ibiza reported. Once flights restarted at a reduced pace, they warned that getting back to normal would take a long time.

Palma and the Spanish mainland

Palma de Mallorca Airport also had a hard Sunday. Aena reported 37 cancellations there, Última Hora reported, alongside widespread delays as weather-related flow restrictions held many flights on the ground.

On the mainland, AEMET put the southern Valencia coast and northern Alicante on red alert for torrential rain until 10:00 on Monday, October 19, Demócrata reported. The agency warned of local totals of 300 to 400 liters per square meter, roughly 12 to 16 inches, in the first half of Monday, according to Diario En Positivo.

At the time of writing on Monday morning, AeroCorner had found no Aena report of closures or diversions at Valencia or Alicante-Elche airports. Anyone flying there on Monday should still check with their airline before setting out.

Ibiza and Formentera stayed under an orange warning until 14:00 on Monday for up to 50 liters per square meter, about 2 inches, of rain, plus storms and coastal hazards, La Voz de Ibiza reported. Schools on Ibiza and Formentera were closed on Monday.

The storm has already been deadly. A woman was swept away by floodwaters in Cabrera de Mar, north of Barcelona, on Saturday evening, and her body was recovered on Sunday, Xinhua reported.

Why standing water closes a runway

Rain on its own rarely grounds airliners, but water pooling on the runway is a different problem. Under the international Global Reporting Format for runway conditions, a dry runway rates 6 and a wet one 5, while standing water deeper than 3 mm, about an eighth of an inch, drops the code to 2.

That scale is laid out in a briefing from Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority. A lower code means less braking grip, which is why an airport facing ponded water can stop landings until crews clear it, as Ibiza did with its pumping work.

A flight diversion follows when an inbound jet cannot hold long enough for the runway to reopen. Each diverted aircraft and crew then ends up out of position, one reason a short closure can keep producing cancellations long after flights resume.

What passengers are owed

Under EU passenger rights rules, a canceled flight gives travelers the choice of a refund, rerouting or a return flight, plus assistance at the airport such as meals. A hotel is included if they are rebooked to travel the next day, according to the European Commission’s Your Europe guide.

Cash compensation is another matter. The same guide lists adverse weather as an extraordinary circumstance, and compensation is not due when the airline can prove a cancellation was caused by one.