[Daytripper]

There has been a minor amount of snow (1-2 cms) overnight.

As a Londoner who was there during the snow on Sat, here is a first-hand witness account.

It snowed heavily for no more than 90 minutes, falling to no more than 4 inches. Heathrow has now been affected for three and a half days.

This is a national embarrassment. Heads should roll at BAA. Frankfurt, Amsterdam and CDG have not been affected to anything like the same extent.

‘Act of God’ is one thing. Unacceptable incompetence is another.

[MartynSinclair]

Went through T5 about 7.30. Didnt look as busy as yesterday but still looked like a camp site. Bag drop was either short staffed or there was a technical issue, either way the q’s were very long as understandably was the rebooking q. Security lines were empty however, there was some “hussle and bustle” by the shops. Thought there would be an enticing 10% discount, no such luck.

Galleries lounge, well what can I say but praise for what clearly is the best place to be, apart from 1A or 60J.

Looking out onto the southerly runway, not sure what the problem is but there are no service vehicles on the runway.

Looking good for me, but concious of others not so fortunate.

Happy holidays everyone

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Rebekah1989,
this link is as good as any for the heathrow weather
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/333?&search=heathrow&itemsPerPage=10&region=world

The very best to you.

JohnPhelanAustralia – although agreeing with the principle of your point, you appear to have an axe to grind as a) the spurious thread had ended, as from the posting times the last exchange crossed then you resurrected it hours later. b) vintagekrug had perpetuated the spurious thread several times yet no mention. Grind your axes elsewhere. Shame on you JohnPhelanAustralia

[Potakas]

I am going there too, I have a 1and a half hour connection time and with the first flight being already delayed for 1 hour , that makes it 30 minutes. Here at Edi they don’t print my boarding pass as they do not want extra people on the departure area. So I have to wait also at the connection flight desk.. Also I cannot dowload it to my iPhone.

Happy holidays and I ll keep you updated

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

JohnPhelan

I was not going to comment, but as you have been attacked, just let me say I support your comments 100%

[Rebekah1989]

Good luck P. Sepsas!!!

My flight is tonight, AC says that the only flight going out is from Toronto (mine is from Montreal) and yet my flight says it is “on time” so I still can’t take any preventative measures.

I can’t believe such little snow shuts down the airport for days, really, they should have people from Montreal train them 🙂

AC isn’t letting me check in online either.

I’m so frustrated by the lack of information. I haven’t seen my family in over a year, my grandparents in five years, and my grandfather was diagnosed with alzheimer’s a few months ago. This may be the last time I see him, I bought my ticket in June.

I feel awful for families stuck together in airports, but can’t help thinking “at least they’re together”. So many of us have been forced apart by this 🙁

[FCTraveller]

Heathrow to operate at 30% capacity again tomorrow, Wednesday December 22nd. This is outrageous. It smacks of mismanagement, incompetence and stupidity, nothing less. Does anyone here still want to defend the likes of BAA now?

[FlyingChinaman]

Although I am not affected by this massive chaos as I am safely tucked away at the other end of the world. Many of my friends and colleagues are!

I passed through Heathrow every month or even more than once since and I have never found it effecient but his current sage is beyond words!

To be honest can any operator (past and present) change this situation easily? I have my serious doubt? You would need to have UK government getting involved and overseeing the current or future operator to make reforms FAST!

But I do hope there will be drastic changes and improvements from now on as it will be good for all travellers no matter where they come from, or anywhere they intend to go to in the future.

[SimonRowberry]

This is the key difference, and it requires massive capital investment which, in the UK, might only have very occasional use under “normal” winter conditions. What would BAA’s shareholders say….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12042213

Regards, Simon

[continentalclub]

I’m certainly not defending BAA, nor am I defending a UK Transport Minister who appears on television to explain that the situation at Heathrow is entirely understandable given the 97% capacity at which it operates, on the same day in which he reaffirms his party’s opposition to the third runway at the airport which would undoubtedly provide the contingency that is so desperately needed.

However:

http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2010/12/some_3000_sleep_at_schiphol_dr.php

These problems are not confined to Heathrow; they’re not even necessarily worse at Heathrow than elsewhere – KLM for example have been IDBing passengers downroute as they are unable to handle them at AMS, even though technically the airport has been partially operational.

There are serious questions to be asked of all interested parties, but that includes passengers too. It’s Winter. You simply cannot and should not expect conditions and services to operate as they do in other seasons. If you book connections that are too tight; if you take a cheaper connecting service than a direct one solely to save money (as opposed to not being able to afford the direct alternative); if you travel without sufficient and appropriate supplies; clothing; funds; insurance and means of communication, and if you have not done your research on rights and obligations, then it is likely that you will experience far more stress than those who plan and prepare more dilligently.

If we want all of this to be handled by others; if we wish to develop infrastructure to offer capacity and contingency and if we want to protect ourselves generically from the worst impacts of irregular operations then we will have to vote for it and we will have to pay for it.

As it is however, it seems that we are lulled into a false sense of cheap security, provided for by tiny operator margins and short-sighted politicians.

[FrequentTraveller]

FCTraveller: “Heathrow to operate at 30% capacity again tomorrow, Wednesday December 22nd. This is outrageous.”

I completely agree, this totally outrageous and well beyond excuses given the length of time it has been since the first significant snow fall.

I was hoping things would be back to normal in advance of Friday, when I am due to fly long haul from T5. Unfortunately, if my flight is cancelled it’s not simple for me just to go back home. As I have a connecting flight into Gatwick which currently looks likely to operate.

[FrequentTraveller]

continentalclub : “…we will have to pay for it.”

We already do in the form of airport charges. The airports are not providing a free service.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Rebekah

My understanding is that the Euro legislation on delayed or cancelled flights will not apply to your flight from Canada to London, but the minute you step onto EU soil, you gain some ‘teeth’ for flights between or out of EU airports.

The legislation and commentary can be found using the links below, you may wish to print these and have them to hand on your journey, best of luck. NB: your nationality is irrelevant.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&numdoc=304R0261&lg=en (you need to cut and paste this link into your browser)

http://ec.europa.eu/transport/air_portal/passenger_rights/doc/2008/q_and_a_en.pdf

[FlyingChinaman]

Continentalclub: I partly agree to your comments but the idea of Heathrow is at best just coping with normal traffics and face serious out-of-control situations and prolonged helplessness during an emergency from a RARE adverse weather condition is self-defeating argument.

[continentalclub]

FrequentTraveller I’m not suggesting for a second that passengers are not paying anything, but all the evidence would suggest that we’re simply not paying enough. Nowhere in the European commercial aviation industry is there anything like enough margin to be able to fund the contingency for which so many are clamouring.

Worse still, in Heathrow’s case, Ferrovial’s interest payments on their investment are enormous and rising:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1339299/Debt-levels-BAA-soar-hits-520m.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Yes, it can be argued that they made a poor acquisition, but if the airport is of national strategic importance then there’s an argument that it should be controlled and developed by the state.

If that’s what UK-based passengers want, then they will have to support politicians who agree.

FlyingChinaman I think you’re agreeing that the UK Secretary of State’s position on the matter is somewhat contradictory – and I am certainly not supporting it myself.

[Author]

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