HEATHROW
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 76
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Looking at the list of available equipment in the BAA Snow Plan does seem a bit lightweight. They have 9 Sicards that are towed behind Unimogs but then also list ten Sicard/Blowers which presumably are towed behind the Danline 2000. However, Googling Danline 2000 just comes up with a brush! Can anyone shed any more light on the actual equipment? That's it. About 20 bits of kit.
Helsinki has 250 bits of kit from what I can discover. One article claims that Frankfurt has 42 snowploughs but since the same article states that LHR has 28 I kind of take that one with a pinch of salt. A better article in a German aviation magazine quotes six snow blowers and 42 snow sweepers at Frankfurt. 12 large de-icing vehicles as opposed to LHR with 4 and one of those is a tiddler. Frankfurt invested in 16 million Euros for this stuff. Compared to 600,000 Euros for LHR. A three-shift operation employs more than 300 employees.
Comparing the list in the Appendix with that listed elsewhere in the document reveals a lot of discrepancies which to my mind reflects the cavalier attitude towards investment in snow clearing equipment.
Whichever way you cut it, BAA cut corners.
Helsinki has 250 bits of kit from what I can discover. One article claims that Frankfurt has 42 snowploughs but since the same article states that LHR has 28 I kind of take that one with a pinch of salt. A better article in a German aviation magazine quotes six snow blowers and 42 snow sweepers at Frankfurt. 12 large de-icing vehicles as opposed to LHR with 4 and one of those is a tiddler. Frankfurt invested in 16 million Euros for this stuff. Compared to 600,000 Euros for LHR. A three-shift operation employs more than 300 employees.
Comparing the list in the Appendix with that listed elsewhere in the document reveals a lot of discrepancies which to my mind reflects the cavalier attitude towards investment in snow clearing equipment.
Whichever way you cut it, BAA cut corners.
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: In bratty land
Posts: 113
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Saw a low loader with part's of a very big snow blower or similar type vehicle being delivered to the BAA Snow base by the Midland hangar last night , does that mean someone has actually realized at the ivory towers of BAA , that their pathetic effort to keep LHR operational during snow , wasn't fooling anybody .....
Looking at snow handling in Helsinki and in Canada, much of what they were using was obviously hired in from outside civil engineering contractors and similar, as required. The key is to have your arrangements properly in place ready to go when you say so, and being sure the kit is actually available.
Of course, I am sure some can envisage the gate at Heathrow at the start of a blizzard, with all the dump trucks lined up to come rushing in, and some jobsworth managing to find that the security passes were the wrong colour or something !
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Major London Airport
Posts: 84
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Another Heathrow Hell Experience
A few days ago I had the misfortune to travel through Heathhell, as my flight to LGW was cancelled. Arriving at Terminal 4, where most of the gates were empty, astounded to see an enormous queue to pass through immigration. No problem I thought - I will use the IRIS scanner. Only to find that it was blocked off. When I asked why I was told - "Oh its not working". OK, please tell where to queue for the electronic chip passport reader "Oh, its not working" was the reply. It took 25 minutes to get through immigration.
The same day a friend flew in T3, and it took 90 (NINETY) minutes to transfer to T5.
What a joke BAA and Heathhell are ! And they wonder why I and an increasing number of connecting passengers avoid it like the plague.
The same day a friend flew in T3, and it took 90 (NINETY) minutes to transfer to T5.
What a joke BAA and Heathhell are ! And they wonder why I and an increasing number of connecting passengers avoid it like the plague.
Whatever will the imbeciles at Hacan think up next
BBC News - Heathrow night flights ban 'could save £860m a year'
"Saving £860m a year" reminds me of those discount frniture shops, where the shoddy £1,000 sofa is reduced to £200, and am told that I am therefore "saving £800".
More particularly, why does every little press release they do get star billing in BBC News ? Do you think that Hacan have somehow managed to get compromising photographs of the BBC Director General ?
BBC News - Heathrow night flights ban 'could save £860m a year'
"Saving £860m a year" reminds me of those discount frniture shops, where the shoddy £1,000 sofa is reduced to £200, and am told that I am therefore "saving £800".
More particularly, why does every little press release they do get star billing in BBC News ? Do you think that Hacan have somehow managed to get compromising photographs of the BBC Director General ?
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London (Babylon-on-Thames)
Age: 42
Posts: 6,168
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Commissioned by Hacan Clearskies which campaigns for a ban on night flights, the study suggests savings would be in costs linked to sleep deprivation.
Quiet news day then.
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Horsham, England, UK. ---o--O--o---
Posts: 1,185
Received 4 Likes
on
2 Posts
I wonder which airport they use ....... ?
Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult
Join Date: May 2007
Location: On the western edge of The Moor
Age: 67
Posts: 1,100
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Bollington, Cheshire
Age: 72
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just to close this off properly
British Pound vs US Dollar (UK) GBP softer with dealers attributing concerns over incident at Heathrow airport- The UK media reports that a man threatening to blow himself up at Heathrow Terminal 5. Now in a stand-off with armed police -
Follow up 8:57 EST: The person is now in police custody
British Pound vs US Dollar (UK) GBP softer with dealers attributing concerns over incident at Heathrow airport- The UK media reports that a man threatening to blow himself up at Heathrow Terminal 5. Now in a stand-off with armed police -
Follow up 8:57 EST: The person is now in police custody
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: In bratty land
Posts: 113
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Staff Bus Stop T3
Ok , i'm bored and frustrated , but who are the bright sparks that decided to move the staff bus stops at Terminal 3 , after spending all that money on new ones , with a digital display in each one , we now have to cross 2 more main road's to get to work , perhaps the same muppets behind BAA's snow plan
Ok , i'm bored and frustrated , but who are the bright sparks that decided to move the staff bus stops at Terminal 3 , after spending all that money on new ones , with a digital display in each one , we now have to cross 2 more main road's to get to work , perhaps the same muppets behind BAA's snow plan
Last edited by British Grenadier; 13th Mar 2011 at 20:27.