Fog clears but airports still struggling
24.12.07
Dozens of flights have been disrupted at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airport today despite the lifting of a thick belt of fog that caused travel chaos for thousands of passengers over the weekend. After hundreds of flights were cancelled on Saturday and yesterday, planes and crews are out of position, meaning flights will be hit today too.
A spokesman for Heathrow Airport said 29 departures would be grounded today as a knock-on affect of the weekend disruption, mostly BA flights. The cancelled flights were due to depart from terminals one and four to destinations including Newcastle, Dublin, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Paris, Barcelona, Rome and New York. There are also long delays on flights running in and out of Heathrow, with one inbound Chicago flight five hours behind schedule.
Over the weekend, 90 departures and 112 arrivals were cancelled at Heathrow. Up to a thousand stranded passengers were forced to spend the night at hotels near Heathrow last night whilst they wait for alternative flights.
At Gatwick six flights have been cancelled today, with the bulk being BA European short-haul services where planes had not yet arrived on incoming flights. Six European flights from London City airport were cancelled today, including flights to Edinburgh and Dublin. Some passengers flying from Stansted have also suffered minor delays but there are currently no cancelled flights from the airport.
Airport authorities are encouraging travellers to check the BAA or airline websites before embarking on their journeys.
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