Dublin airport radar failure forces flights to divert and be cancelled

On 10 July 2008 disruptions continue at Dublin International Airport (EIDW/DUB). Authorities were forced to shut down the airport at approximately 1445 local time (1345 UTC) on 9 July due to a malfunction with the facility's radar screens; the airport reopened later in the day. The closure prompted the grounding of dozens of flights, while others were diverted to alternate Irish airports. Aer Lingus reportedly canceled all flights that were scheduled to fly into or out of the airport after 1700 local time (1800 UTC) on 9 July. Problems with the radar system initially began at 1145 local time (1045 UTC); functionality was restored after approximately 10 minutes, but a second failure then occurred at 1330 local time (1230 UTC). Air traffic controllers initially tried to work around the problem by limiting the number of flights arriving at the airport, but later made the decision to close it completely in the interest of safety. The radar system at the airport has experienced recurring problems in recent weeks.