SNOW UPDATE: Latest airport news

UK airports have re-opened today after efforts to clear the snow, but they are warning that it could be a few days before flights are back to normal as aircraft and crew were displaced by the bad weather.

Passengers are advised to check with their airlines for the latest information before travelling to airports.

Gatwick Airport reopened this morning but urged passengers to check their flights were operating before travelling to the airport. The Gatwick Express train from central London remains suspended and there is some disruption on other rail services and roads to the airport.

Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield is expected to remain closed at least until midday today.

Heathrow remained open throughout the bad weather, but it is warning passengers of possible ongoing cancellations and delays caused by disruption at other UK and European airports.

Humberside Airport has reopened but all KLM flights to Amsterdam have been cancelled until Saturday morning.

Newcastle Airport is reporting some disruption and is warning passengers to be prepared for changes to scheduled arrivals and departures.

There have been only eight cancellations at London Stansted and some Gatwick-based airlines have transferred flights there.

With permission from Travelmole

As most UK airports reopen, Spanish airspace closes due to unannounced industrial action:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=149399

David

Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and Wick Airports currently reported as closed due to heavy snowfall. Glasgow not expected to reopen before 2pm, and Edinburgh not before 6pm.

David

Some flights are now landing at Glasgow, approximately 7 hours behind schedule. Severe disruption is expected to continue throughout the evening.

Edinburgh Airport remains closed, but there are still hopes that it may reopen at 6pm.

Heavy snow is now sweeping into Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, closing some airports there including Belfast International and Ireland West Airport Knock.

It is important once again that anyone expecting to travel reconfirms flight status with their airline, as delays and cancellations are inevitable.

David

Snow brings Christmas misery for air passengers

Thousands of families risk their Christmas travel plans being thrown into chaos after winter returned with a vengeance yesterday, forcing several airports across the UK to suspend flights.

While some airports have managed to clear their runways and resume flights this morning, snow is expected to spread from Scotland and Ireland to cover much of the UK by tomorrow, the first day of the Christmas holidays for many schoolchildren.

Anyone planning to travel over the next 48 hours, including families who had planned an early Christmas getaway this weekend, will have to keep a close eye on the weather forecast and the status of their flights or rail services as further disruption is likely.

This morning flights are suspended at Inverness, Exeter, Belfast City and Belfast International and the City of Derry.

Aberdeen Airport was expecting to re-open its runway at 9.30am following a major snow clearing operation.

Flights at Belfast City have been suspended and will not resume until midday, at the earliest. Passengers are being advised to contact their airlines for further details. Flights at Belfast International have also been suspended and the situation will be reviewed at 11am.

All flights were suspended from City of Derry Airport this morning and flight disruption is expected throughout the day as snow and icy conditions continue, but passengers are being advised to check in as normal unless advised not to by their airlines.

Exeter said it would remain closed at least until midday.

Edinburgh and Glasgow airport are open, but passengers are advised to leave extra time for their journeys to the airport due to the wintry driving conditions.

London airports are open, but a spokeswoman for Gatwick urged passengers due to travel over the next 48 hours to check with their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport. "It's business as usual here but flights may be disrupted because of the severe weather forecast for much of the UK," she said.

Train services in Wales are experiencing severe delays. Operators affected are Arriva Trains Wales, First Great Western and Virgin Trains. Some ScotRail services in Scotland have also been disrupted by bad weather.

More snow is forecast for today which will spread to much of the UK by Saturday, with up to 25cm in southern and central England and in Wales.

With permission from Travelmole

Some airlines are already cancelling flights for tomorrow (Saturday 18th) in anticipation of adverse weather at UK airports. Easyjet for example have cancelled all flights to and from Gatwick between 6am and 10am, with the situation later in the day still to be reviewed. The weather is also causing disruption at some airports in Europe. Passengers travelling over the weekend should continue to monitor flight status with their airline.

David

There is significant flight disruption today as adverse weather continues to affect the UK.

As mentioned last night, Easyjet had already cancelled this morning's flights to and from Gatwick Airport in anticipation of weather related problems. British Airways has also now cancelled all flights from Heathrow and all domestic and European flights from Gatwick between 10am and 5pm. Other airports may also experience delays, diversions or cancellations, making it necessary once again for any passengers expecting to travel today to check flight status before leaving home.

David

Gatwick airport now closed completely

Flight delays to continue into next week

Thousands of passengers trying to get on flights out of the UK have been it could be several more days before they can escape the big freeze as airports struggle to get aircraft back in the air.

British Airways has already cancelled some of tomorrow's flights out of Heathrow and it is urging passengers not to travel to the airport before checking the status of their flight.

Bmi has cancelled 30 flights to and from Heathrow on Monday.

Virgin Atlantic warned this afternoon it would be another 24 to 48 hours before its schedule was back to normal at Heathrow.

Passengers travelling up to December 24 with BA from Heathrow are being given the option of cancelling with a full refund or rebooking to a later flight. Virgin is giving passengers due to travel up to December 21 the option to defer their travel or cash in their tickets.

Heathrow Airport said severe ice meant it was still unable to operate more than a handful of longhaul services on Sunday, leaving thousands of passengers unsure of when their flights would depart.

A statement on the Heathrow website reads: "No flights will operate from Terminals 1 or 4 and a limited number of departures will leave from Terminals 3 and 5.

"We are extremely sorry for the disruption this will cause to passengers and airlines and we stress that passengers must check with their airlines before travelling to the airport.

"This morning, we listened carefully to the advice of our airside operations team and reluctantly judged that while Heathrow's northern runway remains clear, the change in temperature overnight led to a significant build up of ice on parking stands around the planes and this requires the airfield to remain closed until it is safe to move planes around."

Gatwick's runway is open, but the airport said the impact of the snow across Europe would lead to delays and cancellations.

Stansted. London City and Luton airports appear to be open and they are not expecting any more snow today, Ryanair cancelled all flights from Stansted, Gatwick and Luton before 1000 today but it has put on 20 extra flights to and from Stansted tomorrow. Passengers can re-book for free online.

With permission from Travelmole

Flight delays to continue until Christmas Eve

Thousands of passengers trying to get on flights out of the UK have been told it could be several more days before they can escape the big freeze as airports struggle to get aircraft back in the air.

British Airways has cancelled most flights out of Heathrow and is urging passengers not to travel to the airport before checking the status of their flight.

Only one of Heathrow's two runways is operating and many areas of the airfield remain unusable including areas around parked aircraft.

BA has published its schedule up until 1200 on its website and is awaiting further updates from BAA before publishing the schedule for the remainder of the day.

It said it expects to operate most flights into and out of London Gatwick and London City, but said there is a reduced operation as a result of the weather disruption

BA urged customers whose travel is not essential to cancel their flight, in return for a full refund, or to consider changing their flight to another date over the next 12 months.

Bmi has cancelled 30 flights to and from Heathrow today.

Virgin Atlantic yesterday warned it would be another 24-48 hours before its schedule was back to normal at Heathrow.

Bournemouth Airport is closed until at least 1400.

With permission from Travelmole

ABTA urges holidaymakers to stay at home

ABTA is urging passengers not to travel to airports without checking the status of their flight before leaving home.

Spokesman Sean Tipton implied that many of those stranded at UK airports should not have been there in the first place.

"If they had checked with their tour operator or airline before heading to the airport, they would have been told to stay at home," he said.

"Things seem to be getting back to normal now but passengers must check with their airline or their tour operator to see if their flight has been delayed or cancelled before they go to the airport. If they get to the airport and their flight has been cancelled they should go home.

"It is much better to stay at home than to hang around an airport."

Thousands of British holidaymakers were stranded overnight at the weekend at Heathrow and Gatwick after hundreds of flights from both airports were cancelled. Some who travelled to Heathrow on Saturday and were unable to leave the airport after police closed access roads due to difficult driving conditions.

Both airports are now operational but Heathrow is only running a limited service. Gatwick said it was still suffering delays and cancellations, as are many other airports across the country.

ABTA said passengers who were stuck at airports in the UK or overseas would be provided with accommodation and alternative travel arrangements by their tour operator or airline where necessary, but passengers are not entitled to compensation for delays and cancellations as these are beyond the airlines' control.

An estimated 4m people will be trying to get away during the Christmas holidays, but ABTA said it had no figures for how many were due to travel this weekend or how many were stranded.

Playing down the crisis slightly on Sunday, Tipton added: "I suspect that, in spite of the media reports, there are not many thousands of holidaymakers stuck at UK airports.

"The majority of those who are stranded at airports this weekend are foreigners trying to get home for Christmas. I would think that, in spite of the media reports, the majority are not British holidaymakers because if you are going on holiday the sensible thing to do when your flight is cancelled is to go home, or simply to stay at home in the first place."

With permission from Travelmole

EU transport commissioner slams airports

The European Commission has criticised the region's airports, including London's Heathrow, for failing to cope with freezing weather and leaving thousands of passengers stranded.

EU transport commissioner Siim Kallas said that as a result he was considering introducing minimum service requirements for airports, which could prompt them to make better preparations for severe weather.

"I am extremely concerned about the level of disruption to travel across Europe caused by severe snow," he said. "It is unacceptable and should not happen again.

"In recent days, I have become increasingly concerned about the problems relating to the infrastructure available to airlines - airports and ground handling - during this severe period of snow. It seems at this stage that this is a "weak link" in a chain which, under pressure, is contributing to severe disruption."

Airports in western Europe should learn from their counterparts in northern Europe, he said.

"Airports must get serious about planning for this kind of severe weather conditions. We have seen in recent years that snow in western Europe is not such an exceptional circumstance. Better preparedness, in line with what is done in northern Europe is not an optional extra, it must be planned for and with the necessary investment, particularly on the side of the airports."

Kallas will convene a meeting with airport representatives in the next few days to ask for further explanations and to take a look at what it necessary to make sure there is no repeat of this winter's fiasco.

"We need to ensure that, from infrastructure providers such as airports and rail infrastructure manages, there are appropriate service levels and minimum quality requirements that are followed and delivered .

"If there is a need for support from the European Commission in terms of regulation on minimum service requirements for airports in this area, I am prepared to do that, for example, when we bring forward the Airports package on slots and groundhandling which is foreseen before summer next year.

"First I want to hear the views of the airport operators and the different practices in place across Europe. We must look at the issue across the whole travel chain and make sure possible loopholes and weak links are identified and closed."

With permission from Travelmole

Dublin Airport, which was still trying to recover from last night's several hour closure during heavy snowfall, has announced that all flight operations are now suspended once again and are not expected to resume before 5pm.

David

Flight operations at Dublin Airport now remain suspended until at least 8pm.

Aer Lingus have cancelled all departures from Dublin for the rest of the day. However, if the runway does reopen tonight, they will endeavour to fly back passengers currently checked in and stranded at other airports.

Ryanair and Aer Arann have also cancelled all flights to and from Dublin for the rest of the day.

Other airports in Ireland are open but some are experiencing delays and/or cancellations. Road conditions in many parts of the country are very poor, and public transport services are severely disrupted. Anyone travelling to Ireland should confirm not just their flight status, but also road conditions and onward transport to their final destination.

UPDATE: Flights to/from Dublin now suspended until 8am Wednesday at the earliest.

David

Does anyone have any news on luton airport?

Luton is currently open, a fair few delays with aircraft in the wrong places and delays due to the current European weather, snow is forecast for Bedfordshire but where when and how much no one can agree.

up-to date press releases can be found HERE

Thank you

Flight operations suspended at Dublin Airport

Flight operations at Dublin Airport are suspended once again due to persistent heavy snowfall. It is hoped that services may resume around 1.30pm, subject to an improvement in the weather which may allow snow clearing operations.

UPDATE: After a brief respite, a further suspension of services is now in place until at least 5am on Christmas Eve. 270 flights and around 40,000 passengers have so far been affected.

David

CAA: Airlines broke EU law and misled stranded passengers

The Civil Aviation Authority says some airlines have not been following EU law regarding care for stranded passengers during the Big Freeze and has suggested carriers misled them about their rights.

The organization says it has written to a number of carriers about the behaviour and says it will "take action to ensure that any unacceptable practices are addressed."

It will outline how they are failing to explain EU denied boarding regulations to passengers which say that during periods of disruption airlines need to give passengers refreshments and put them up in hotels if necessary.

However, it will not say which airlines it is contacting apart from the fact that some are UK-based and some overseas-based.

The CAA urges passengers to hold on to all receipts if they have had to shell out for hotels and meals during the recent flight chaos.

CAA chair Deirdre Hutton said: "The European Union has put in place regulations to protect people in situations such as this, which not only guarantees people will be looked after, but requires airlines to let people know what their rights are.

"This has not been happening in all cases and it is important that passengers are not being misled. The fact that some airlines are making real efforts to look after their passengers shows that it can be done and there is no excuse for providing misleading information on what passengers are entitled to.

"We welcome the Government's comments today that they are prioritising revamping the CAA's regulatory framework so we would be able to introduce provisions to encourage major airports to prepare better for bad weather. In the meantime though our focus will be on making sure passengers get the protection they deserve."

This morning transport minister Theresa Villiers said the Government planned to work on a bill to give the CAA sharper teeth, enabling it to fine airports and even take away their licences if they don't prepare adequately for bad weather.

With permission from Travelmole

Edinburgh Airport is currently closed following overnight snowfall. It is hoped that it might reopen at 12 noon, but meantime anyone expecting to fly to or from Edinburgh Airport today is advised to check flight status with their airline.

David