Severe morning fog over Umbria forced Ryanair flight FR 01511 from Cagliari to abort multiple landing attempts at Perugia on 1 November before diverting to Ancona-Falconara, 115 km away. The Boeing 737 touched down safely at 11:40, but coaches to Perugia did not arrive until mid-afternoon, extending total travel time to roughly five hours.
Several Sardinian passengers told ANSA they were left in the dark about onward transport and complained of inadequate refreshments—a potential breach of EU261 care obligations. Ryanair said weather-related diversions are outside the carrier’s control but confirmed it had arranged buses.
![Fog diverts Ryanair Cagliari-Perugia flight to Ancona, adding five-hour detour for passengers]()
The episode is a timely reminder that many Italian provincial airports lack CAT III instrument-landing systems and cannot accept low-visibility approaches. Winter fog season typically peaks from late October through January; last year Perugia logged 18 weather diversions. Travel managers with assignees flying to central Italy should therefore build slack time into itineraries and keep Ancona and Rome rail links in reserve.
The diverted flight also illustrates the growing importance of integrated contingency planning among airlines, airports and ground handlers as traffic rebounds to pre-pandemic levels.
Several Sardinian passengers told ANSA they were left in the dark about onward transport and complained of inadequate refreshments—a potential breach of EU261 care obligations. Ryanair said weather-related diversions are outside the carrier’s control but confirmed it had arranged buses.
The episode is a timely reminder that many Italian provincial airports lack CAT III instrument-landing systems and cannot accept low-visibility approaches. Winter fog season typically peaks from late October through January; last year Perugia logged 18 weather diversions. Travel managers with assignees flying to central Italy should therefore build slack time into itineraries and keep Ancona and Rome rail links in reserve.
The diverted flight also illustrates the growing importance of integrated contingency planning among airlines, airports and ground handlers as traffic rebounds to pre-pandemic levels.
