The arrival of autumn has many signs, and one of them is certainly Bura wind in Dubrovnik, with related flight cancellations, go-arounds, flight diversions, etc.
This was also the case on September 5, when, according to available data, winds of up to 42 knots were registered at Dubrovnik Airport. For illustration, 38 knots (70.38 km/h) is the upper demonstrated crosswind limit for the Airbus A320, the most common aircraft type at DBV. Bura in Dubrovnik is not new, it creates special problems due to the nature of the wind direction, which in relation to the direction of the runway (11/29) represents an almost “pure” side wind, i.e. crosswind.
The following flights were diverted due to gust of wind:
Aegean Airlines – A3784: Athens – Dubrovnik, diverted to Athens
Jet2 – LS1313: Birmingham – Dubrovnik, diverted to Zagreb (later flew from Zagreb again to Dubrovnik, where it landed from the second attempt)
airBaltic – BT497: Riga – Dubrovnik, diverted to Bari
Turkish Airlines – TK439: Istanbul – Dubrovnik, cancelled
Croatia Airlines – OU301: Athens – Dubrovnik, diverted to Zagreb
Vueling – VY7726: Barcelona – Dubrovnik, diverted to Rome (FCO)
Croatia Airlines – OU664: Zagreb – Dubrovnik, diverted to Split
The force of the wind is also shown by the fact that two departing flights: easyJet U28604 to Gatwick and Transavia HV5008 to Rotterdam waited for take-off for almost two hours on the taxiway next to the runway. Eventually, they gave up and returned to the stand. It was Transavia’s second return to the parking position.
According to the NOTAM, Split Airport refuses to accept any diversions in the time from 0400-2000 UTC, that is, from 06:00 to 22:00 local time. The NOTAM is currently active for the whole month of September. Out of all diverted flights, only Croatia Airlines flight OU664 was diverted to Split (due to the landing time at 21:24 UTC).
A3348/23 - AD NOT AVBL AS ALTN. DAILY 0400-2000, 01 SEP 04:00 2023 UNTIL 30 SEP 20:00 2023. CREATED: 30 AUG 06:44 2023
