Budapest airport shut over electrical problems

Budapest's international airport remained closed late Friday after an electrical fault in its control tower, but was scheduled to re-open early on Saturday, airport authorities said. "Budapest Airport will remain closed, and will not launch or receive flights, until midnight tonight," the airport said in a statement on its website. "The plan is for traffic to resume at 10:00 am (0900GMT) tomorrow, Saturday 8 December, but this could still be subject to change," it added. The airport was forced to close Friday at 11:50 am (1050 GMT) as "the electric supply of the tower has been impacted by a technical problem," the airport had said in another statement released earlier in the day. A Budapest Airport spokesperson said there was no chance of reopening the airport on Friday as the electrical fault had not yet been repaired. Outgoing flights have been suspended while incoming ones were being diverted to Bratislava in neighbouring Slovakia and to Vienna. The spokesperson said around 80 flights had been affected. The airport also warned passengers due to travel on Friday not to come to the airport but to contact their airline.