Lisbon-bound airBaltic flight diverted to Porto due to blackout

RIGA - A Lisbon-found flight of Latvia's national carrier airBaltic, which departed from Riga at 12:50 Monday, was diverted to Porto after the Iberian Peninsula was hit by a massive power outage, airBaltic spokesman Augusts Zilberts told LETA.

He said that other airBaltic flights to Portugal and Spain were not affected at the moment but that the airline was monitoring the situation and would inform passengers about any changes if necessary.

Representatives of Riga Airport informed LETA that currently, no other flights are affected by the power outage.

A massive blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill Monday, halting subway trains, cutting phone service and shutting down traffic lights and ATM machines for the 50 million people who live across the Iberian Peninsula.

The power cut in Spain and Portugal disrupted air traffic, affecting flights to and from Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, European air traffic organization Eurocontrol said. The organization said it was still too early to say how many flights would be affected.