Posts Tagged "advice"
Snow Extends European Travel Chaos as UK Seeks Advice on Harsher Winters – Bloomberg
Snow forced European airports including London Heathrow to scrap flights for a fourth day, prompting Britain to seek scientific advice on whether the heaviest early falls in 17 years show winter is turning colder.
Tens of thousands of people trying to head home or on vacation for Christmas since the weekend remain stranded as Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, operates at one-third of capacity, according to owner BAA Ltd., while Frankfurt airport was closed this morning as more snow fell, Fraport AG said.
Britain will ask its chief scientific adviser if blizzards that began last month, coupled with the worst cold snap in two decades last winter, provides evidence for a “step change” that would justify increased spending on cold-weather gear, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond told lawmakers. Heathrow, which handled 66 million travelers in 2009, has 69 ice-clearing vehicles, less than twice the number at Oslo, which handles a quarter of that passenger total and suffers 60 days of snow a year on average.
“If we’re going to face week after week of these kinds of conditions, which I haven’t seen in my lifetime in this country, we’ll have to have different equipment, different procedures in the future,” BAA Chief Executive Officer Colin Matthews said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s The Pulse.
Snow and freezing weather have hindered European air travel since November, with the latest heavy falls hitting the U.K. on Dec. 18 and up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) deposited yesterday. Airlines including Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Qantas Airways Ltd. and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. have canceled flights.
Shovels, Diggers
Heathrow, the world’s second-busiest airport after Atlanta, will operate with only one of its two runways open for most of today, forcing British Airways Plc to scrap 165 flights at its main hub, according to the carrier’s website.
“It can’t be beyond the wit of man, surely, to find the shovels, the diggers, the snowplows or whatever it takes to clear the snow out from under the planes,” London Mayor Boris Johnson told the British Broadcasting Corp. yesterday.
BAA spokeswoman Cathy Mussert said the company was advising passengers to check that their flights were operating. “There could be further delays and cancelations,” she said.
London Gatwick opened as planned at 6 a.m. with 600 flights scheduled for the day, according to its website. The world’s busiest single-runway airport has suffered less disruption after taking delivery of two extra snow-clearing machines that were ordered after last winter’s freeze.
Investment Plan
The additional plows took the total at Gatwick to 49, with three more due to arrive by the weekend. An 8 million-pound ($12 million) investment program by next winter will result in 95 vehicles at the airport, which was sold by BAA to New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners for 1.5 billion pounds in 2009.
Frankfurt, Europe’s third-busiest airport, shut all three runways before reopening two, spokesman Juergen Harrer said, with northern parts of Germany likely to receive as much as 10 centimeters of fresh snow during the day, according to the German Weather Service.
Deutsche Lufthansa AG routed long-haul jets to Munich and deployed additional wide-bodies to Dusseldorf and Zurich.
“It’s unbelievable,” Thomas Jachnow, a spokesman for Cologne-based Lufthansa, said in a telephone interview. “We all thought it would get better and then this new wave of ice and snow hit us. Any optimism that our flight plan would normalize in coming days has dissipated.”
Late Opening
In Paris, Roissy-Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were set to begin the day with at least 28 canceled flights before 7 a.m., data tracker FlightStats.com said. The airports stayed open late yesterday to clear a backlog and Aeroports de Paris said the delay at Charles de Gaulle was two to three hours.
“It is necessary to allow as many airplanes as possible to fly as long as weather conditions remain favorable,” French Transport Minister Thierry Mariani said in a statement.
London’s City airport is open today with some delays and cancelations, spokeswoman Geraldine Nolan said by telephone. Dublin airport is closed until 5 p.m. local time.
U.S. carriers such as United Continental Holdings Inc. and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines waived ticket-change fees for passengers traveling to or from parts of Europe.
Qantas canceled flights from London and turned back others headed to the U.K., affecting 3,000 passengers, Simon Rushton, a spokesman for the Sydney-based carrier said. Cathay Pacific said it expects to operate three scheduled flights to London from Hong Kong through early tomorrow morning. The carrier’s four flights from Heathrow today are also expected to go ahead.
Eurostar Warning
On the rails, Channel Tunnel service Eurostar Group Ltd. placed speed restrictions on high-speed lines, adding up to two hours to journey times, according to a statement on its website.
Eurostar, which links London to Paris and Brussels by train, asked passengers not already at stations to stay at home and urged all customers to cancel non-essential travel. The service isn’t accepting new bookings through Dec. 24.
Most other trains through France were slower than normal, though 90 percent were arriving less than 1 hour late, according to train operator SNCF.
Deutsche Bahn AG spokeswoman Kathrin Fellenberg said the winter weather continued to disrupt Germany’s national railroad network, causing numerous train delays and cancelations.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chris Spillane in London at cspillane3@bloomberg.net; Steven Rothwell in London at srothwell@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Colin Keatinge at ckeatinge@bloomberg.net; Kenneth Wong kwong11@bloomberg.net
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Read MoreSnow disruption – travel advice – The Guardian
Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, was only operating about a third of its normal schedule during a fourth day of disruption. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Further snow is forecast across Europe today and there will be more delays and cancellations to flights. Many travellers have been told to stay away from airports until their flight is confirmed. The advice from all airports is to contact your airline before leaving for the airport.
Heathrow is operating a reduced flight schedule until 6am on Thursday 23 December.
Gatwick airport is open but there are some knock-on delays and cancellations are likely throughout the day.
For updates on all other airports, go to ukairportdelays.co.uk
If your flight is delayed or cancelled, you’re rights are protected by European Law for any flight from or within the European Union and on flights from a non-EU country into the EU, provided the airline is licensed in the EU.
The following assistance must be provided by the airline:
Your airline is required to provide you with meals and refreshments appropriate to the length of the delay and two free telephone calls or e-mails if you are delayed by:
two hours or more for a flight less than 1,500km.
three hours or more for a flight between 1,500 and 3,500km.
four hours or more for a flight more than 3,500km.
• If you are delayed overnight your airline is required to provide you with hotel accommodation and transport to and from the hotel.
• If you are delayed by more than five hours and decide not to travel, you are entitled to a refund.
Refunds should be paid by the airline within seven days.
You are entitled to:
• A refund within seven days, or
• Alternative transport to your final destination. If the airline cannot fly you to your intended airport, it is allowed to fly you to another airport within the same region. The airline must then transfer you to either your intended airport or a close by location agreed with you.
The airline will refund the cost of the air tickets.
Speed restrictions are in place, and fewer trains are running. There are long delays and customers who booked to travel before Christmas are being asked to postpone and get a refund or exchange their tickets for an alternative date. This can be done free of charge through the original point of sale up to 60 days after the original date of travel for travel up to 90 days.
Those who have a confirmed booking for today and whose journey is essential will be allocated a seat on the next available train. However, be aware that stations are very busy and you may have to wait for three hours or more. If you hold a confirmed booking for yesterday but have not yet travelled, they direct you to the following link for new train times.
Operators will refund customers for the holiday if trips are cancelled. But they often offer an alternative, later leaving date, a transfer to another holiday of the same value, or a refund.
• Follow our live transport and snow disruption updates
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