This strikes me as one of the more unusual reasons for a long haul flight diversion, as reported by The Aviation Herald.
In this post:
KLM jet diverts to another country due to ATC issues
This incident happened on Wednesday, October 22, 2025, and involves KLM flight KL713, scheduled to operate from Amsterdam (AMS) to Paramaribo, Suriname (PBM). The Boeing 777-300ER with the registration code PH-BVR was operating the 4,673-mile flight, which was supposed to depart at 9:20AM and arrive at 1:35PM (both times local), with a typical flight time of around nine hours.
The plane took off at 10:06AM, and most of the journey was routine, until well into the descent to Paramaribo. At 18,000 feet, the crew stopped the descent and entered a holding pattern, as they were informed that there were no air traffic controllers in the tower at the destination airport.
After holding for around 25 minutes without any developments, the crew decided to divert to Cayenne, French Guyana (CAY), located 199 miles away. The plane landed there at 2:40PM local time, 9hr34min after it first departed from Amsterdam, and around an hour after discontinuing the approach to Paramaribo.
The plane then remained on the ground until 3:58PM local time, at which point air traffic control staffing issues in Paramaribo were figured out. The plane landed in Cayenne at 4:33PM, after a quick 35-minute flight. In the end, the flight arrived just under three hours behind schedule.
What caused this air traffic control shortage?
Suriname’s Ministry of Transport claimed there was a shortage of air traffic controllers due to a series of sick calls. As a result, the government deployed 13 trainee air traffic controllers to the airport, and a helicopter was even reportedly sent to fly the air traffic controllers there, to avoid further operational disruptions.
The country’s Transport Minister, Raymond Landveld, joked “that’s what we want, for them to go to work, perhaps with a face mask, but for there to be someone in that tower.”
Suriname’s aviation sector has had its fair share of challenges in recent times. For example, in June 2025, the European Union banned all airlines registered in Suriname from flying to the European Union, because they don’t meet international safety standards.
National carrier Suriname Airways’ route to Amsterdam has for months been operated by a leased Universal Sky Carrier (USC) Airbus A340-600, in order to avoid those restrictions. Universal Sky Carrier… that’s a very logical name for a wet lease operator!
In fairness, the concept of an air traffic controller shortage is hardly unique to Suriname. We’ve seen similar issues in the United States repeatedly, both due to the general staffing shortages, plus the impact of the government shutdown. However, rarely does it get to the point where there are zero controllers.
It’s also worth acknowledging that there are some situations where commercial aircraft land at airports where towers aren’t staffed. In those situations it’s typically planned and there are clearly defined procedures in place, while that’s a bit more complicated here.
Bottom line
A KLM Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Paramaribo had to divert, after there were no air traffic controllers at Paramaribo Airport. The plane instead landed in Cayenne, and after the airport sorted out its air traffic controller issue, the aircraft eventually flew to its intended destination, where it landed around three hours behind schedule. That has to be one of the stranger reasons a pilot has to provide to passengers for a diversion…
What do you make of this KLM diversion to Cayenne?
The Surinamese are amongst the laziest and incompetent people on the planet. The men, especially.
You know who will never call in sick, or even be sick ever?
Like what I keep telling people.
We need to remove humans from the controls.
Or get hacked and go offline/sick for 3 weeks until someone pays $40 million.
Do you have that same opinion for flight crews?
While we all have heard of hidden city bookings, this is a rare case of a hidden country booking. And unlike that notorious hidden country booking on Ryanair Flight 4978, nobody got dragged off the plane and jailed in Belarus.
"The plane landed in Cayenne at 4:33PM, after a quick 35-minute flight. "
Did you mean 'Paramaribo'?
ATC calling in sick? Does Suriname also have a 'government shutdown' right now?
No, they have a civilised legal system where people aren't expected to work when they're ill ;)
100%. We should do that in the USA, too.
After all, as ‘Big Poppa’ once said: We “got enough to feed the needy… no need to be greedy…”