Air-travel disruptions threatened to ripple across Europe for another day as heavy snow forced London’s Gatwick airport to stop outbound flights early today.
The halt to departures will be in effect until 6 a.m. U.K. time, according to the airport’s website. Paris’s Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were set to begin the day with at least 28 canceled flights before 7 a.m., data tracker FlightStats.com said.
Snow snarled train services as well as airlines for a fourth day as travelers tried to get home for the Christmas and New Year holidays. The two Paris airports stayed open late yesterday to clear a backlog of flights delayed by the snow, and operating hours were extended for four days at London’s Heathrow airport.
“It is necessary to allow as many airplanes as possible to fly as long as weather conditions remain favorable,” French Transport Minister Thierry Mariani said in an e-mailed statement.
Airlines and rail operators urged travelers to stay home if possible, and U.S. carriers waived fees as more snow was forecast for England, France and Germany. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed yesterday from London, Paris, Frankfurt and Geneva.
Dublin’s airport restarted flights at 11:30 p.m. after suspending services earlier last night while crews cleared the runway of snow and ice, according to a website statement.
Heathrow, Paris Airports
BAA Airports Ltd., the U.K. airport operator owned by Ferrovial SA, asked passengers yesterday not to travel to Heathrow’s Terminal 1 and 3 to avoid overcrowding. Aeroports de Paris, which runs the two Paris airports, said the average flight delay at Charles de Gaulle was two to three hours.
“It would be silly of me to say at this stage that things are going to be tip top,” Gatwick airport spokesman Andrew McCallum said in a telephone interview yesterday, with more snow forecast overnight.
Eurostar Group Ltd., which links London to Paris and Brussels by train, asked passengers not already at stations not to come and urged all clients to cancel non-essential travel. The service isn’t accepting new bookings through Dec. 24, a spokesman said.
Most other trains throughout France were running more slowly than normal, though 90 percent were arriving less than 1 hour late, according to train operator SNCF.
Change Fees
U.S. carriers such as United Continental Holdings Inc. and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines waived ticket-change fees for passengers traveling to or from parts of Europe.
“Delays and flight cancelations could occur through the entire pre-Christmas period” at Berlin’s airports, Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld GmbH said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it expects the number of flights within Germany and Europe to gradually increase and return to normal by tomorrow as the weather situation is set to improve, according to Frankfurt-based spokeswoman Bettina Rittberger.
“We’re confident we can sustain pretty smooth operations by Wednesday,” Rittberger said by phone.
Snow and freezing fog have hindered air travel across Europe since last week with up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) of snow falling in parts of the U.K. yesterday. Airlines including Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Qantas Airways Ltd. and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. have been forced to cancel flights, leaving thousands of travelers stranded.
Cathay Pacific Airways canceled 14 flights to or from London since Dec. 18, affecting more than 4,500 passengers, according to the airline’s website. The company said yesterday it was “extremely unlikely” that it would be able to add any extra flights to London within the next 48 hours.
Qantas Airways has 3,000 passengers affected by the shutdown, after it canceled flights from London and turned back other flights headed to the U.K., Simon Rushton, a spokesman for the Sydney-based carrier, said yesterday.
Deutsche Bahn AG spokeswoman Kathrin Fellenberg said the winter weather continued to disrupt Germany’s national railroad network causing numerous train delays and cancellations.
Read More
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-20/europe-s-cold-blast-disrupts-travel-for-third-day-as-more-snow-is-forecast.html
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