Runway damage forces brief Budapest airport closure

Budapest (AFP) - Loose runway paving at Budapest airport Wednesday punctured a wheel on a Wizzair flight arriving from Stockholm and briefly forced the airport's closure, air traffic controllers told the Hungarian news agency MTI.

"A piece of dislodged concrete on a runway pierced a wheel" on the Hungarian low-cost airline's Airbus A321 plane, said Anita Kiss, a spokeswoman for Hungaro Control.

No injuries were reported.

The airport was closed for about 90 minutes while repairs were carried out, she said. 

The delay caused queues of 28 flights waiting to depart and 17 to land.

Several flights were diverted to nearby airports at Vienna, Austria, and Bratislava, Slovakia.   

Commenters on social media described scenes of "chaos" at the airport as passengers scrambled for information.

The airport's other runway has been undergoing renovation since April and is scheduled to reopen for service later this week.  

© Agence France-Presse