Ecuador airport physically blocks runway to stop planes from landing

Empty rescue flight was arriving to pick up Spanish citizens

Guayaquil airport runway was blocked by trucks (Twitter/@CrudaRealidadEc)

An airport in Ecuador physically blocked its runway to prevent an incoming plane from landing.

Footage taken via helicopter shows trucks strategically parked the entire length of the runway at José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil to ensure an Iberia Airlines flight from Spain couldn’t touch down.

The aircraft was empty save the crew, and was arriving to pick up stranded Spanish citizens.

It eventually managed to land in Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, where it boarded 170 passengers for the return journey to Spain.

Cynthia Viteri, the mayor of Guayaquil, said she supported the decision of local authorities to stop the plane from landing amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Viteri has tested positive for Covid-19 herself.

However, Ecuador’s Ministry of Transport and Public Works denounced the blocking of the runway.

The EU has requested that Ecuador “provide guarantees of security in the use of the airports of Quito and Guayaquil for the arrival of empty flights and the exit of European citizens,“ reports Reuters.

It comes after Spain declared a state of emergency on 14 March, banning people from all but essential outings.

Originally due to last 15 days, authorities are now requesting it be extended until 11 April as the death toll soared to more than 1,700.

“We are at war,” said Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the outbreak.

The Spanish government also announced that, from midnight on 22 March, most foreign nationals would be barred from entering the country for 30 days.

This does not apply to Spanish citizens currently stuck abroad