Photo courtesy of a passenger

Taipei, Oct. 16 (CNA) More than 7,000 passengers on 66 flights were affected Tuesday when Kaohsiung International Airport was closed from about 11:40 a.m. until 5 p.m. after a China Airlines (CAL) aircraft blew a tire landing and damaged the runway, the airport said.

Flight CI712 took off from Manila at 10:01 a.m. and landed in Kaohsiung at 11:36 a.m., blowing a tire as it set down on the ground. No one was injured.

The incident, which left the aircraft stuck on the runway, forced the closure of the airport and was originally expected to last until 2 p.m. only to be delayed a further three hours after damage to the runway was discovered and repaired, the airport said.

The airport said 2,827 passengers on 19 international inbound flights and 3,006 passengers on 21 outbound flights, as well as about 1,200 passengers on 13 domestic departures and 13 domestic arrivals were impacted by the delay.

Several inbound international flights were diverted to Taoyuan International Airport in northern Taiwan and some inbound domestic flights were diverted to Magong in outlying Penghu County.

The cause of the incident is currently being investigated by the Civil Aeronautics Administration.

(By Chen Chi-fong and Lee Hsin-Yin)
Enditem/AW