Milan Bergamo airport – also known as Orio al Serio and serving the Italian city of Bergamo – endured a day of chaos on Tuesday, following an incident involving a Ryanair flight arriving from Barcelona El Prat.

The plane was landing at 07.55 am local time when the four tyres of the rear undercarriage burst, leaving it stuck on the runway.

The incident however did not affect the landing manoeuvre or cause any particular problems on board, airport authorities said.

However, it damaged the runway, forcing urgent reparation works.

A statement issued later during the day said operations at the airport were expected to resume at 06.00 pm local time.

Milan Bergamo airport: Where are flights diverted to and when will the airport reopen?

The airport’s website showed all flights until midnight tonight (Tuesday 1 October) as either delayed, cancelled or diverted. Check your flight’s status here.

Some departing flights appeared to be delayed until 2pm local time, implying the airport was hoping to be operational by this time.

If you are due to fly into or out of Bergamo airport, it is best to check your flight’s status before heading to the airport.

Where are Bergamo flights being diverted to?

Bergamo is a city and province 1-hour’s drive north-east of Milan.

The nearest airports to Bergamo Orio Al Serio are Verona, a 1 hour 10 minute drive away, and Milan Malpensa, a 1-hour drive away.

Airlines are required by law to transport passengers to their final destination but it is not yet clear how they are making sure passengers get to their final destination of Bergamo.

What happened with the Ryanair flight?

SACBO said the Ryanair flight arrived from Barcelona El Prat at 07.55 local time.

Firefighters arrived shortly after and evacuated all 161 passengers and the crew. No one was injured.

“The tyre blowout caused 450 meters of damage to the runway,” said SACBO.

The reparation works were aiming to fix the pavement, which was nicked to a depth “of about one centimetre”.

A Marseille neighbourhood has been crowned the “coolest in the world” in Time Out magazine’s annual ranking.

Licked in graffiti, lined with vintage stores and soundtracked by live music, Notre-Dame-du-Mont was selected for its “rebellious spirit”.

It’s among 38 neighbourhoods identified by Time Out’s global team of on-the-ground writers and editors as the best places to visit right now.

Two other European ‘hoods also made the top 10: Stokes Croft and St Paul’s in Bristol UK (6th place) and Príncipe Real in Lisbon, Portugal (8th place).

What makes Notre-Dame-du-Mont Europe’s coolest neighbourhood?

With its diverse population, rich culture and Mediterranean climate, the port city of Marseille in southern France is cool and chaotic in equal measure.

Once known as the artists’ district, Notre-Dame-du-Mont encapsulates this with its lively restaurants, art galleries and independent shops.

Time Out recommends heading to iconic neighbourhood bakery Pain Pan for brioche before checking out the paintings and sculptures at Galerie Charivari.

Grab a new read at L’Histoire de l’œil bookshop and youth space, paired with coffee from Razzia or a drink on the terrace at Café la Muse.

Cap off your day with dinner at Livingston, which hosts a rotation of chefs in residence, before bedding down at the design-led Mama Shelter hotel.

Marseille is easily reachable from across Europe, with TGV InOui trains linking it with Paris in just three hours. The arrival station, Marseille Saint-Charles, is just over 20 minutes’ walk from Notre-Dame-du-Mont.

Where are Europe’s other coolest neighbourhoods?

Time Out’s list recognises 38 neighbourhoods around the world, ranging from overlooked suburbs to historically cool spots experiencing a renaissance.

It doesn’t all come down to hipster hallmarks like street art and craft breweries: the locales were selected for reflecting the best of the cities’ culture, community spirit, nightlife, food and drink.

Zabłocie in Kraków, Poland came in 11th place, trumping original hipster hub Kazimierz thanks to its rejuvenated riverside parks and creative eateries paired with landmark sites like Oskar Schindler’s Factory and the brutalist Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCAK).

Punavuori in Helsinki, Finland, takes 14th place, with Time Out comparing it to the likes of New York’s Brooklyn or Berlin’s Kreuzberg.

In Berlin itself, though, Friedrichshain (18th place) outshines Kreuzberg, having matured after years of being trampled by tourists seeking out fabled nightclub Berghain and the East Side Gallery.

Back in France, bustling Belleville in Paris comes in 20th place for its vibrant atmosphere and line-up of festivities and carnivals.

In the UK, Strathbungo in Glasgow (22nd place) and Leyton in London (24th place) are where it’s at, while in Dublin, Ireland, Inchicore takes 25th place.

Portugal gains another entry with Bonfim, Porto, in 30th place, followed by Hungary’s Palace District in Budapest (31st place).

After Norway was added to China’s visa-free list earlier in September, four more European countries have made the cut.

Citizens of Cyprus, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia have now been granted visa waivers for the Asian nation, bringing the total number of European countries up to 17.

In July, tourists from Poland, Australia and New Zealand were also granted unrestricted entry to China until the end of 2025.

Since the start of 2024, the scheme has been announced in stages, with various European nations and Malaysia also gaining visa-free access. It aims to encourage more people to visit China for business and tourism, and promote exchanges between Chinese citizens and foreign nationals.

The full list of European countries now includes Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. Tourists from these countries will be allowed to enter China for short stays without a visa until the end of next year.

The aim is “to facilitate the high-quality development of Chinese and foreign personnel exchanges and high-level opening up to the outside world,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a briefing on the initial announcement made in November.

Visa-free entry will be granted for up to 15 days in the trial programme.

International travel to China is still bouncing back

China’s strict pandemic measures, which included required quarantines for all arrivals, discouraged many people from visiting for nearly three years. The restrictions were lifted early last year, but international travel has yet to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels.

China previously allowed citizens of Brunei, Japan and Singapore to enter without a visa but suspended that after the COVID-19 outbreak. It resumed visa-free entry for Brunei and Singapore in July but has not done so for Japan.

In 2023, China recorded 35.5 million entries and exits by foreigners, according to immigration statistics. That compares to 97.7 million for all of 2019, the last year before the pandemic.

The government has been seeking foreign investment to help boost a sluggish economy, and some businesspeople have been coming for trade fairs and meetings, including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Apple’s Tim Cook. Foreign tourists are still a rare sight compared to before the pandemic.

How else is China simplifying travel for Europeans?

Last year saw a surge in interest in China as a tourist destination among Europeans.

Data from online travel agency Trip.com showed a 663 per cent increase in overall bookings from Europe to China compared to 2022, and an almost 29 per cent increase on 2019.

The United Kingdom and Germany were among the top 10 sources of inbound travellers to China globally, the data shows.

Shanghai remains the most popular destination among Europeans with its alluring blend of modernity and tradition, followed by Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Sanya, a beachside city on the southern end of China’s Hainan Island, and Chengdu – the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province – are emerging destinations.

Beyond it’s new visa-free schemes, the country is further encouraging inbound tourism by promoting cultural and historical attractions in partnership with Trip.com. China is also enhancing tourism infrastructure by investing in technology, travel guides and e-payment systems.