Snow closes Gatwick, Heathrow and other airports
18.12.10
Heathrow and Gatwick have closed their runways today and all flights to and from the airports are suspended. Airports have also been hit across the UK, with runways closed and flights cancelled just as the Christmas getaway gets under way. Severe weather across Europe is also disrupting flights to many destinations even where UK airports are open, including to France, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Amsterdam.
Gatwick Airport has closed its runway at least until 15:00. Additional snow ploughs have arrived at the airport and it hopes to have the runway operational later this afternoon. Both British Airways and easyJet are offering passengers the option of re-booking on later flights or claiming a full refund. BA passengers due to fly from Heathrow or Gatwick on Sunday may also cancel or delay their travel plans without incurring additional fees.
Heathrow has closed its runways until at least 16:00. The airport has urged passengers not to attempt to get to the airport, and also warned drivers not to collect arriving passengers, as the police have closed some access roads to the airport. BA has cancelled all short haul flights from Heathrow and Gatwick for the rest of today.
All long haul flights from Heathrow due to depart before 19:00 have been cancelled and long haul flights due to depart from Gatwick before 17:00 have also been cancelled. Bmi has cancelled all its flights from Heathrow and from the rest of the UK to London until tomorrow at the earliest.
Other airports that have closed runways today include Birmingham (until at least 17:00) and Bournemouth (until 16:00). Southampton has re-opened after an earlier closure, Manchester Airport closed between 11:00 and 11:45 for snow clearing. The runway at Bristol Airport has reopened after snow caused it to close for several hours. Aberdeen, Exeter, Cardiff and London City airports have also experienced problems.
All passengers are advised to check the status of their flight before travelling to the airport and leave extra time for their journeys due to difficult driving conditions.
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