Flights in and out of northern Spain suspended due to falling Chinese rocket

AIRPORTS in northern Spain have suspended flights due to the uncontrolled entry of a Chinese rocket into the atmosphere.

No fly-zones have been imposed on airspace serving Barcelona, Reus, and Tarragona airports plus Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.

The suspension in services kicked in at 9.15 am and was expected to last for at least an hour.

Air traffic has been limited to avoid any possible collision with rocket debris over the north of the country.

Once the suspension has been lifted, airports will have to deal with knock-on effects of delays for the rest of Friday.

The Chinese CZ-5B rocket weighs up to 23 tons and is the largest object to enter the Earth’s atmosphere in recent years.

Air traffic controllers in Spain took to social media to say that ‘Eurocontrol has informed us about the non-controlled re-entry of a Chinese rocket into the Earth’s atmosphere’.

‘Rate Zero has been established for certain parts of Spanish airspace and that could affect air traffic by way of delays and diversions’.