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Flights affected as Riga Airport temporarily closes down due to skidding incident

Xinhua, February 18, 2017 Adjust font size:

An accident in which an aircraft skidded off the runway at Riga International Airport on Friday morning affected more than a dozen flights as the airport was closed down for several hours, the airport said.

The charter flight of Russia's Vim Airlines, bound for the Russian city Ufa, skidded off the runway as it was about to take off from Riga on Friday morning.

None of the 47 people on board the plane was harmed in the incident. The plane was taxied to an apron and the runway closed for checks.

Maris Gorodcovs, director of the Latvian Civil Aviation Agency, described the skidding accident at Riga Airport as "serious", adding that it is now being probed by the Transport Accident and Incident Investigation Bureau.

Riga Airport reopened at around 2 p.m. local time after the temporary closure. Endit