Aberdeen Airport chiefs have maintained there is nothing wrong with its runway, despite the damaged surface causing traffic chaos for the second time this year.
Hundreds of passengers suffered major delays after the defect was found on the runway on Wednesday afternoon.
All flights in and out of the north-east were diverted or delayed for several hours after the fault was discovered on the south end of the landing strip, and airlines were forced to find overnight accommodation for a number of their passengers.
Two large queues congregated inside the terminal in the early evening and remained into the night, along with another long line for taxis outside.
Engineers worked throughout the evening to repair the damaged section of tarmac, and airport bosses managed to open a shortened runway, but this was too late for many passengers who had already seen their flights cancelled.
The runway was fully reopened just before 11pm on Wednesday night and normal operations resumed.
A similar problem arose in January, when torrential rain, caused by Storm Frank, was the catalyst for a hole opening up on the north end of the landing strip.
However, a spokesman for Aberdeen Airport insisted there was nothing wrong with the runway.
He said: “We’re still assessing it, and we don’t yet have an official word on it, but it definitely wasn’t a hole.
“It was small piece of damage, but obviously a small piece of damage has big repercussions when it’s on a runway.
“It’s on a completely different part of the runway to the damage that was caused in January, so they are not related.”
The spokesman confirmed that Aberdeen Airport was still investigating the cause of the damage.
Yesterday morning, the travel problems continued, due to low visibility brought on by a heavy fog that blanketed much of the north-east.
Dozens of flights arriving and departing were delayed, and a handful of flights were cancelled.
But, by noon, the fog had mostly lifted, and many flights were back on schedule.
