There were severe delays this afternoon for flights departing and arriving at Elmas Airport. The cause, according to leaks, was a malfunction in the radar at the Decimomannu military base, which also regulates civilian traffic.

No official communication for passengers, but an internal note (Notam) intended for workers warning of the system malfunction.

To understand the consequences, just take a look at the scoreboard of Sogaer, the Cagliari airport management company, which, for the umpteenth time, finds itself suffering from service disruptions it cannot control (at least until it can rely on its own radar systems).

The problem began to manifest itself shortly after 6:00 PM. Flights to the capital were held up on the runways for long periods: the flight from Bergamo was delayed by half an hour, the one from Turin by 35 minutes, the Aeroitalia flight from Milan was delayed by almost an hour (there was no air conditioning with the passengers on board and the cabin was transformed into an oven), and the flight from Paris was delayed by 55 minutes. The flight from Fiumicino was also expected to be delayed by more than an hour.

It's the same story on the departure front: the KLM flight to Amsterdam at 5:05 PM hadn't yet taken off until 7:00 PM, the Neos and Ryanair flights to Malpensa and Ciampino won't take off until 8:00 PM, and the delays for Transavia flights to Orly and Ryanair flights to Catania have increased by up to an hour. Passengers heading to Vienna will have to wait an extra 70 minutes.

Traffic hasn't come to a standstill because, in the absence of radar, pilots can continue to travel, but the frequency has been drastically reduced: it's obvious that, unless the service is restored soon, the chain of delays is destined to continue.

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