A Facebook post warning that Malta’s airport would shut down because of strong winds is fake, airport officials confirmed, as misinformation spread rapidly ahead of Storm Harry.
Storm Harry hit Malta between Monday January 19 and Tuesday January 20, with gale-force winds causing widespread disruption to travel services, particularly ferry services carrying passengers by sea.
However, a screenshot of a Facebook post seemingly issued by Malta’s airport authorities, warning that the airport would be shut down and flights cancelled, was doctored.
The image, widely shared on WhatsApp throughout Monday afternoon, appears to be a screenshot purporting to show a post on the Malta International Airport (MIA) Facebook page.
The post supposedly warns that “the MIA runway will not be operational this evening and throughout tomorrow,” with all flights to and from Malta cancelled due to strong winds.
However, a spokesperson for MIA confirmed with Times of Malta that the image is not genuine and that the airport had become aware of the post after receiving reports of it being shared on WhatsApp.
The fake post appears to be a doctored version of an image originally posted by the MIA Facebook page over the weekend.
On Saturday, MIA posted a photo of the airport’s runway, accompanied by the caption “Early morning views”.
The doctored post uses the same image, however replaces the caption with the fake warning.
The spokesperson urged the public to visit the airport’s official social media accounts directly or its website for up-to-date information about scheduled flights.
Will flights be disrupted?
When asked whether to expect any service disruptions in view of the strong winds, the spokesperson said “no particular queries or requests have reached us as yet, however airlines do have ‘door opening’ parameters in strong wind conditions”.
“In terms of take-offs and landings, wind direction is expected to be favourable for aircraft operations on the main runway,” the spokesperson added.
By Tuesday afternoon, Storm Harry had caused some minor disruption to air travel, with four inbound flights diverted to Italian airports after a series of failed landing attempts.
However, the airport’s runway remained open throughout the day, with flights operating in line with their regular schedule.
A screenshot of the post was shared on WhatsApp throughout Monday.
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Originally published here.
