Originally Posted by
ramphawk
WHBM - This is a pure guess, but single runway operations would be required whilst the other runway was being swept. Sweeping can start with very little snow visible on the runway. For any single runway airport the only option is to close for runway sweeping, the only question is for how long.
I'm very familiar with single runway ops in snow, I just wonder why elsewhere they manage it without this disruption. I also wonder how BA (and all others) manage to operate quite OK off ploughed but snowy runways in Russia, in continuing snowfall, without dfficulty, but can't do it at Heathrow.