Snow wreaks chaos across Europe
Adverse weather conditions continue to impact European airports, with London Heathrow Airport warning further cancellations are "inevitable".
Although Heathrow yesterday confirmed its airfield is now "fully operational" with all runways, taxiways and stands clear, ongoing visibility issues saw the airport cut its schedule by 10%.
"Low visibility means that, for safety reasons, there needs to be a bigger gap between aircraft. Because Heathrow runs at almost 100% capacity, there is no slack in the system and flights unfortunately have to be cancelled," a spokesperson said.
"Further cancellations are inevitable given the adverse weather conditions at other airports around Europe."
Germany's Frankfurt airport reported 203 cancellations yesterday, while Munich cancelled 200 flights. Paris airports Charles de Gaulle and Orly cancelled 40% of total scheduled flights.
Heathrow advised passengers to check the status of their flight before setting off for the airport and has laid on 200 additional staff to assist customers.
However, the airport has come under fire for failing to reduce flight schedules ahead of the heavy snow which fell on Friday, causing widespread disruptions over the subsequent four day period.
Meanwhile, British Airways notified passengers due to travel on January 22 and 23 that they can change the date of their flight free of charge for travel until February 12.
Cathay Pacific confirmed last night that it is closely monitoring the situation.
"Based on the current weather forecast, we expect to operate flights to and from London Heathrow as normal but still subject to change," a statement said.
It has implemented a waiver of rebooking and rerouting charges for bookings involving LHR made on or before January 19, for travel between January 19 and January 21.
Qantas has extended its waiver to cover flights in and out of affected European ports today.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
airlines airports british airways europe heathrow london ukLatest News
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