Latest UK Airports and Flights Information

A slight improvement in the weather conditions of Europe has resulted in the resumption of flights from different airports. So far, hundreds of passengers have faced inconveniences, especially at London Heathrow Airport.

In what spells as a tremendous relief for air ticket holders in the UK, airlines are slowly but steadily on the way to resume services. Normal operations have been reported at Manchester, Stansted, Luton and London City airports. The last week led to the grounding of hundreds of flights to and from the UK owing to immense snowfalls. However, a let up in the situation facilitated different airports as well as other transport hubs in clearing up part of the accumulated backlog of passengers. Here is a little detailed information on the latest developments.

London Heathrow Airport

The British Airports Authority announced that London Heathrow would now operate to its full capacity. A number of flights that had been diverted earlier have now been rescheduled to fly from Heathrow as planned earlier. To cite an example, the Etihad flights EY017 and EY018, will take off from Heathrow as per initial schedule and will not be diverted to Manchester. Etihad also announced a refund of travel expenditure for passengers who had fixed travel plans to Manchester. The refund would be according to the terms and conditions of the airline. However, like other airports, London Heathrow has also advised passengers to travel to the airport only if their flights are confirmed by their airlines.

The Heathrow Airport is known for serving not only numerous international and regional full service airlines, but also a high volume of budget carriers offering cheap flights to different parts of the world.

Gatwick Airport

Thanks to the laborious efforts of the cleaning crew, the Gatwick Airport also resumed services from Tuesday. However, passengers have been warned of knock-on delays due to heavy snowfall covering many parts of Northern Europe.

Scotland

As per reports trickling in, the snow has been cleared away from the Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. However, passengers need to be prepared for inevitable cancellations and delays. These delays are plaguing Aberdeen as well.

British Airways’ Loss

British Airways is perhaps the hardest hit airline due to the snow. According to analysts, the airline has been suffering losses to the tune of £8m to £10m. However, the airline announced the confirmation of its schedules for today, 22nd December and that the schedules for 23rd and 24th December will be confirmed as soon as they are finalised. This means, people who had booked advance tickets with British Airways in the hopes of netting cheap flights, still stand the chance of utilising their tickets.

British Airports Authority (BAA) faces criticism

British Airports Authority has been under fire for failing to handle the snowfall at London Heathrow Airport. In fact, many quarters have demanded a probe into BAA’s response to the situation. The call for probe has also been backed by the Association of British Travel Agents.