Sorry We Are Shut

[Rinrada]

Chaos as BA cancels all UK flights for two days.....Thursday..20.12.06

(with thanks .the standard....)

The fog which blanketed Heathrow has grounded nearly half of British Airways short-haul flights........O Suwanna ..I said .....O Suwanna........

Passengers are facing another day of chaos after British Airways cancelled all domestic flights from Heathrow tomorrow because of thick fog.

The airline also said some European services would be grounded. Today thousands were stranded at Heathrow after 350 domestic and shorthaul flights were cancelled.

Forecasters predicted the fog will get worse and could stay for the next 48 hours at least. At the peak time tomorrow 194,000 travellers, 30,000 more than on a normal day, are set to pass through Heathrow.

Mark Bullock, managing director of BAA Heathrow, said cancellations "would need to continue as long as the weather conditions prevail".

He admitted that if the fog did not lift some people would not get a flight before Christmas.

Problems at Heathrow were made worse when the landing lights along the edges of one of the main runways failed. This halted flights until power was restored.

British Airways and other airlines including Alitalia and Lufthansa said they were cancelling a total of 350 flights today.

Yesterday, 223 flights were cancelled.

Hundreds of passengers were forced to spend the night in the airport. Weary travellers told of their anger at the lack of information but BA said it was doing all it could.

The company handed out 5,000 blankets last night for those stranded and booked 3,000 hotel rooms for others.

Queues snaked around Terminal 1 and the check-in desks today. Although the situation eased slightly by noon it was expected to get worse again as night falls and the fog freezes.

BA said it had cancelled its short-haul flights after Heathrow's air traffic controllers halved the number of take-offs and landings from 45 an hour to 22 to allow a greater safety margin.

BA said it had decided to give the reduced number of take-off slots to its long-haul departures because those passengers had no alternative way of getting to their destinations. A spokesman said it was a "tough decision" but insisted it was not motivated by profit.

A total of 16 domestic flights were cancelled at Gatwick today although Stansted was said to operating normally.

BA sent extra staff into the packed Heathrow terminals to help passengers rebook flights. The company also hired coaches to take a further 3,000 passengers to Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Newcastle.

A spokeswoman said: "We are also using larger aircraft where possible to get as many people away as possible. We are very concerned that passengers are trying to get away and realise this is a very important time for them." Staff also distributed food to those stranded including Christmas-pudding shaped chocolates.

[britmaveric]

[LaoPo]

Yes, it's a DRAMA on Heathrow with more than 40.000 passengers stranded

"Air travel fog ordeal continues "

Some passengers stayed overnight

Dense fog is continuing to cause misery for Christmas holiday travellers at Heathrow and other UK airports.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6198917.stm

...and the busiest day, tomorrow Friday december 22nd is yet to come...

and:

Flight delays 'could last days'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6198737.stm

and:

London fog grounds flights, chaos set to continue

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews....C1_%5BFeed%5D-9

Poor people, travelling home for Christmas...

LaoPo

Edited December 21, 2006 by LaoPo

[bkkandrew]

Yes, a real pea-souper here for the last two days. Travelling via LHR T3 on 28th back to LoS. Hope it bloody lifts by then..

[jayenram]

Mmmmm

[Governor]

Most, if not all, of the long haul flights are getting away albeit a little late. It was seem that they have cancelled the domestic and some short haul flights to take the pressure off the departure slots. I fly to LOS on Saturday so hope they continue to get away.

I have an office that overlooks a Heathrow runway, the fog has been lifting and dropping all day, quite eerie really.

Good luck everyone, hope you all get where you want to go.

[Rinrada]

Bit of Info....

British Airways customers should contact

0800 727 800 or check the

www.britishairways.com website to see if their flight is still operating

There is regular travel information on BBC News 24, BBC Radio Five Live and the BBC's local radio and regional TV news.

This website will have updated advice and there are links to the BBC's travel and weather web sites below.

[londonthai]

came back Bangkok - Heathrow yestarday (24.12) in the morning.

No problems but tents for the waiting passengers are still outside the terminal and there are hundreds of uncollected luggages by the belts.

Had to wait some 25 minutes for my suitcase - a much longer than usual

[marshbags]

Most, if not all, of the long haul flights are getting away albeit a little late. It was seem that they have cancelled the domestic and some short haul flights to take the pressure off the departure slots. I fly to LOS on Saturday so hope they continue to get away.

I have an office that overlooks a Heathrow runway, the fog has been lifting and dropping all day, quite eerie really.

Good luck everyone, hope you all get where you want to go.

There are also the additional local conditions to add to this. ( U.K. / European )

My local airport always gets fog / weather related problems in the winter, and early spring time.

Mother natures ways cannot be determined, unfortunately.

Nice to see no one is using authorities as a scape goat for what is, after all, a natural phenomenon

marshbags