[Anonymous]

[rodders]

Having read with some wry amusement the various vitriolic reports over the recent snow a Heathrow, I thought you might be interested in my 6hr delay today on the tarmac at Dubai, caused by poor visibility and fog, the authorities closed one runway, and according to the captain ATC were refusing calls, and we were number 50 for take-off.

Yes Emirates eventually served breakfast on the ground, and the captain gave us regular updates, but it was only meant to be a 45 minute hop from Dubai to Doha. So its not only LHR that gets it wrong, CDG also this week was a bit of a shambles, and my 90 minute delay on Sunday from LHR T5 was nothing by comparison, sometimes I think we all get lulled into a sense that the grass is always greener elsewhere……

[ImissConcorde]

Thanks, rodders, for that note of realism.

[andystock]

Why did they even board the plane, better to be delayed in the terminal?

[FormerlyDoS]

I really don’t like DXB airport and I am far from being a cheerleader for EK, but I don’t see much comparison between the fog in DXB yesterday (which I know was severe as I have been working here all week) and the snow at Heathrow.

This is not to defend the shambolic experience that affected rodders.

[JordanD]

FormerlyDoS – I think the comparison is that whilst it is easy to poke at LHR and say how everything is wrong there, there are other weather related events that occur elsewhere in the world that cause problems.

Let’s not forget that Arlanda in Stockholm which has (alongside Oslo and Helsinki) been touted as one of “those” airports that deals with snow wonderfully throughout the winter, had to shut before Christmas due to snowfall. Yes, it was more than LHR got, but in terms of comparisons with their normal, it wasn’t particularly bad.

These things happen; we have to accept that as travellers they do and be pragmatic about what happens next.

[FormerlyDoS]

Jordan

But fog closing an airport for a few hours is not a valid comparison to an airport recovering from snow disruption. I know, I’ve worked alongside airline ops managers and listened to them talking about it. Quite different.

I was in Gothenburg when the snow fell in Stockholm and it was a really big one off drop localised in the area.

I don’t know who told you it was not bad in comparison to normal, I was working with a number of people from Stockholm and they were of the opinion that is was a very unusual event, especially in early December.

Any airport will have to close due to heavy snowfall, that is a given, the telling statistics cover the recovery to normal operations.

These things do happen, but comparing fog in Dubai to snow in Heathrow is apples and pears.

[SwissExPat]

I was also caught in Bombay with a 5.5 hour delay with EK yesterday as caused by this issue at DXB.

It certainly was not Emirates finest moment.

Others in the lounge were there for 11 hours.

EK initially told me st check in it was a 2 hour delay on my flight. In reality they did not know but did not tell me.

I was going to Abu Dhabi using EK to Dubai and then in an emirates car.Had they told me the full story, I could have bought and boarded a direct flight with jet airways to AUH 90 mins later and had no delay. Eventually arrive in my room in Hilton Abu Dhabi at 0500 Hrs local time. Hilton had allocated me a suite. Imslept for 2 hours before leaving for my meetings

Think I Have lost my affection for EK now.

[rodders]

Jordan D
My point exactly, as frequent travelers we do need to accept that things go wrong, but that it does happen all over the globe.
Next weeks trip is DOH/RUH/DXB/JFK/LHR/RUH/DOH lets hope it is hassle free, well other than using JFK T4 🙂

[StewartKidd1]

The delays in the UAE went further and deeper. My 2015 EK flight from Jeddah to Dubai was delayed by more than 3 hours and the onward EK flight scheduled to leave DBX at 0315 actually left at nearer 0600 this morning.

[AMcWhirter]

The fog has been affecting flights at AUH as well as DXB:

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/fog-disrupts-uae-airports-dubai-cancels-20-flights-click-for-latest-delays-cancellations-diversions-2013-01-24-1.492326

[HongKongLady]

This just goes to show that delays can happen anywhere and while they are never welcomed, they have to be taken with as much good grace as one can muster. We do not have control over mother nature

[FormerlyDoS]

“We do not have control over mother nature”

This is the key point. Fog forms and dissipates, there is little anyone can do (on a large scale) to speed it’s passing.

Snow comes and eventually will go by itself, but human intervention can reduce the time it affects the airport operation and the size of that impact.

Thus rodders initial post, whilst I can understand his point, is non seqitur.

I don’t think any reasonable person would criticise Heathrow for being closed by snow, but the knock on effects do seem to cause them more challenges than many other airports and that is where the complaints come from.

[Senator]

Just to clarify the Stockholm situation in December. The amount of snow by itself was not an issue. It was the amount of snow combined with high winds that made it hard to keep three runways open. Therefore, they needed to focus efforts on fewer runways, and clear these before each landing.

[BTMEEditor]

Count myself lucky that it was blue skies flying from Dxb T3 to KL yesterday morning…but it’s been absolutely chucking it down here for the last few hours!

[Author]

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