E grousse Feier huet de Genf International Airport ofgeschloss

Schwäiz Flughafen Genf (GVA) was forced to suspend all landings on Friday afternoon, due to a massive fire at a nearby building.

The fire broke out at a reception facility for asylum-seekers that was under construction and a thick black smoke spread over the Switzerland’s second-busiest airport.

While all the landings have been suspended, the departures from Geneva Airport were left to the pilots’ discretion.

“Due to a fire at the edge of the runway, landings and take-offs have been suspended since 5:35 p.m.” tweeted the airport’s official account. 

“A reopening of the runway, for takeoffs initially, is envisaged around 7 p.m.” local time.

According to airport spokesman’s statement, the “new reception center for asylum-seekers – which was under construction… it is on fire. It is outside the airport perimeter but is creating a lot of smoke.”

It was up to the pilots whether their flights will depart from the airport, the spokesman added, but all the arrivals have been suspended for the time being. 

The airport, located next to the Swiss border with France, has a single concrete runway almost 4km long. It is the second-busiest airport in Schwäiz, after Zurich. According to reporters on the scene, incoming flights from Lisbon, Barcelona and Madrid have already been diverted, while other arrivals are showing as delayed.