Reporter Stranded on Portuguese Island Amid Europe Power Outage and Flight Cancellations
“Flight cancellation”
At the airport’s departure information, a message appeared for a flight to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. The location was São Miguel Island, a Portuguese territory floating in the Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote island within the Azores archipelago, about a 2.5-hour flight from Lisbon.
During the Golden Week holiday, the reporter was traveling in Portugal with his wife. On the afternoon of April 28, local time, they were attempting to return to Lisbon from São Miguel Island after an overnight stay. However, as mentioned at the beginning, the flight they had booked was canceled.
Initially, the reporter was not too concerned. There are 7-8 flights from the island to Lisbon each day. Even if the scheduled flight was canceled, they would likely be rebooked onto another flight in 2-3 hours. Although the reason for the cancellation—whether due to mechanical failure or bad weather—was unclear, when they approached the check-in counter, the staff’s response was cold.
“The replacement flight is undecided. You’ll receive an email with further details at the address you provided. Please wait.”
“Blackout!”
The reporter was frustrated and tried to communicate in broken English, but the staff’s cold attitude remained unchanged.
“Wait? For how long? I want to take another flight. I want to go to Lisbon today.”
“We don’t know how long it will take. There are no available rebooked flights yet.”
There were many other places the reporter wanted to visit in Portugal besides this island. It couldn’t be helped. Although it would cost extra, the reporter decided to visit the ticket counter to purchase a new flight ticket to Lisbon with another airline. However, the female staff member explained with an unusual expression.
“Blackout! Lisbon Airport is unavailable.”
Blackout? A massive power outage? The situation was unclear, and when the reporter searched for information on Lisbon Airport on their smartphone, the internet connection was very poor. Looking at the TV screens installed inside the airport, the reporter began to understand the gravity of the situation. A large-scale power outage had occurred across Europe, especially in Portugal and Spain. The Iberian Peninsula and many other areas had lost power, traffic lights had stopped, and communication problems had caused phones to fail to connect properly. There were rumors of a cyberattack, but the exact cause remained unclear.
Fortunately, there was no power outage on São Miguel Island, but all flights to Lisbon were canceled. Travelers like the reporter from Japan were not exempt from the blackout. What should they do? There were no ferries leaving the island either. If the flight didn’t depart, they couldn’t leave. It seemed that the reporter might be stranded on the island, unable to return to Japan until power was restored. With the widespread blackout across Europe, it was unclear when that might happen.
At the airport, some people began preparing to stay overnight, anticipating the resumption of flights. The reporter emailed the travel agency representative who had arranged the flight from Japan, asking if anything could be done. Despite the 10-hour time difference between São Miguel Island and Japan, after a while, a hopeful email arrived from the representative. Below is a summary of that email.
Transfer 5 million yen immediately
“Tomorrow (29th), there are two available seats on the flight to Lisbon in the afternoon. What would you like to do?”
There was no time to hesitate. It was with an airline named “R◯◯◯◯”, which I’d never heard of, but of course, I requested the reservation. However,
“The original budget was 50,000 yen for two people, but the final confirmation states that 5 million yen must be transferred immediately. This is a company I have never heard of, and it’s very suspicious. What should we do?”
It seemed like a scam taking advantage of the blackout. Even if we transferred such a large sum of 5 million yen, the chances of not being able to board the flight and losing the money without any refund were very high. Upon reflection, it made sense. While the locals in Portugal and Spain were desperately searching for available flights in their native language, there was no way someone from far-off Japan could easily find a seat.
There was no choice but to give up. I would have to prepare to stay on the island for a week. Although I had plans back in Japan, there was nothing I could do unless the flight took off. Fortunately, when I called the hotel where we stayed the previous night, they said there were available rooms.
Perhaps due to the fatigue and frustration, both my wife and I came down with a fever as soon as we arrived at the hotel. We barely had dinner, just some bread and cheese from the nearby supermarket, before we both collapsed in bed.
The next morning, we woke up to a happy email. It was from the Portuguese airline that had canceled our flight, confirming that we had been rescheduled to the afternoon flight on the 29th. However, according to reports, a state of emergency had been declared in Portugal. Transportation was halted, and there was a possibility that restaurants and stores might close. The situation was uncertain. The travel mood quickly shifted to one of anxiety and tension, and the days of uncertainty continued.
PHOTO： AP/Afro
