A plane sits at a snow covered Edinburgh airport
Services were halted at Gatwick, Edinburgh, Dundee, Durham Tees Valley and Doncaster (Robin Hood) completely, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
Delays and cancellations were also reported at a number of other airports including London City, Heathrow, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle.
This was the worst disruption to British aviation since the ash crisis in April, which grounded thousands of flights across the whole of Europe.
Already bad weather elsewhere in Europe led to a number of continental airports, including Frankfurt and Geneva also being shut.
This led to thousands more passengers being stranded abroad. They are, however, entitled to claims meals and, if necessary, hotel accommodation from their airline under EU consumer protection laws.
With more bad weather forecast, it is feared that the chaos could continue for several days. Even once the skies clear, further disruption is likely with the snow having left crew and aircraft marooned abroad.
The worst problems were at Gatwick, where around 600 flights were cancelled after the runway was blanketed by snow
"We have had six inches and there is another six on the way," a spokesman said. "We are throwing everything at it, but as fast as the snow clears, more falls behind us.”
Despite deploying 80 people and 50 vehicles, the airport was unable to clear the runway.
A statement on airport’s website said: "Due to the current weather conditions, departing and arriving flights at Gatwick will be severely disrupted.
“The runway is currently closed to allow snow clearance activities to be carried out. Passengers are advised not to set out for the airport and should check directly with their airline or visit our website."
The largest operator out of Gatwick, easyJet, said passengers whose flights were cancelled should rebook either via the website or the airline’s call centre. If no date is suitable, the airline said a full refund would be paid.
However anyone, whose flight was cancelled, turning up at the airport without a confirmed booking for a flight on that day could be turned away
Passengers at the airport voiced their frustration at the grounding of flights. Cliff Booth, who had been due to return home to Aberdeen with his wife Maureen, described a “hellish 24 hours” he had endured.
"Tuesday afternoon's flight from Gatwick was cancelled because it was taking too long to de-ice and we had the same problem in the evening.
"We had to spend the night on a sofa of the Sofitel Hotel. They basically gave us our bags back and said 'good luck'.
"We get into Gatwick today and find the whole airport has been closed. And now we're just hoping to get any flight somewhere over the border from here at Heathrow.”
Read More
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/8174598/Hundreds-of-flights-grounded-by-snow.html
Delays and cancellations were also reported at a number of other airports including London City, Heathrow, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle.
This was the worst disruption to British aviation since the ash crisis in April, which grounded thousands of flights across the whole of Europe.
Already bad weather elsewhere in Europe led to a number of continental airports, including Frankfurt and Geneva also being shut.
This led to thousands more passengers being stranded abroad. They are, however, entitled to claims meals and, if necessary, hotel accommodation from their airline under EU consumer protection laws.
With more bad weather forecast, it is feared that the chaos could continue for several days. Even once the skies clear, further disruption is likely with the snow having left crew and aircraft marooned abroad.
The worst problems were at Gatwick, where around 600 flights were cancelled after the runway was blanketed by snow
"We have had six inches and there is another six on the way," a spokesman said. "We are throwing everything at it, but as fast as the snow clears, more falls behind us.”
Despite deploying 80 people and 50 vehicles, the airport was unable to clear the runway.
A statement on airport’s website said: "Due to the current weather conditions, departing and arriving flights at Gatwick will be severely disrupted.
“The runway is currently closed to allow snow clearance activities to be carried out. Passengers are advised not to set out for the airport and should check directly with their airline or visit our website."
The largest operator out of Gatwick, easyJet, said passengers whose flights were cancelled should rebook either via the website or the airline’s call centre. If no date is suitable, the airline said a full refund would be paid.
However anyone, whose flight was cancelled, turning up at the airport without a confirmed booking for a flight on that day could be turned away
Passengers at the airport voiced their frustration at the grounding of flights. Cliff Booth, who had been due to return home to Aberdeen with his wife Maureen, described a “hellish 24 hours” he had endured.
"Tuesday afternoon's flight from Gatwick was cancelled because it was taking too long to de-ice and we had the same problem in the evening.
"We had to spend the night on a sofa of the Sofitel Hotel. They basically gave us our bags back and said 'good luck'.
"We get into Gatwick today and find the whole airport has been closed. And now we're just hoping to get any flight somewhere over the border from here at Heathrow.”
Read More
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/8174598/Hundreds-of-flights-grounded-by-snow.html
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