Where did all the diversions go?

[LGS6753]

I have read about numerous closures and diversions, from Luton, Stansted, Gatwick, City, Manchester, Newcastle etc.

So where did the arrivals go to that wasn't snowed-in?

PS at 1600 in Hertfordshire (between LTN & STN) an accumulation of 2" of wet snow appeared within about 15 mins. However well-prepared airports were, none could have remained operational continuously under those conditions.

[mainecoon]

many diversions into both manchester and east midlands

[Bagso]

20 to Manchester

58 to EMA

20 to Hurn

2 to Exeter

[737James]

It was absolute chaos at EMA last night with all the aprons full with some aircraft just parked anywhere they could.
many congratulations to the airport, atc and ops staff who coped very well i thought also toServisair & bmi handling who were working flat out trying to cope with all the extra aircraft and passengers and did very well considering the amount of flights they had to the number of staff on duty.

[egnxema]

58 diversions - wow - the place must have been packed!! Do you have any idea which flights they were - from where?

[Jordan D]

Sorry to sound uninformed ... where's Hurn?

Jordan

[avoman]

Bournemouth. 80 road miles SW of London

[flower]

I think it was 13 into Cardiff.
Bristol and Birmingham only opening around mid-day today due the snow & slush freezing certainly at Bristol into sheet ice and minus temperatures until late in the morning

[eurostar builder]

posted 29th January 2004 18:56
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bournemouth
Bournemouth had 15 diversions before the runway way closed with snow which included

Ryanair
EasyJet
GB
BA
KLM

The airport stayed open 24hours and upto 400 passengers spent the night there.

Somebody also used the Cash Point too.

[Guern]

Some went to Jersey as well.

Flights coming north from Algiers, Toulouse and Barcelona were forced to land in the Island and wait until high winds eased off.

[onion]

It all seems that we in this country are getting soft. First signs of snow and cold weather and the whole country grinds to a halt. For instance i know that the chemicals that they put on the runways can handle temps all the way down to -15 C. But the the temp over the last three days hasn't really got below -5C yet runways are closed. Maybe airports are diluting the solutions to save money, at the expense of the customer. OK there may have been snow as well but ask yourselves this how do aiports in Norway and the Alps stay open? I think the situation is pathetic and these airports that have been closed need to look long and hard at themselves.

[Burns the Bread]

Totally agree with Onion above - absolutely pathetic that we can't cope with a little snow and ice. I hope the airlines ask some serious questions of those responsible at Airport ops level - heads must roll!!! :*

[one truevoice]

I was lucky, or unlucky enough to be at MAN on wednesday night / thursday morning to see and handle some of the diverted aircraft. In my view a great job was done by all handling agents on station in these difficult conditions.

But I do have one question? Why is it that when weather such as we have experienced arrives on our shores do airport authorities, Manchester especially not seem to bother about clearing passenger stands of snow, and ultimatley ice on the ramp. Speaking from experience Manchester was an absolute death trap last night for the foot soldiers. I saw one dispatcher in particular who would have been quicker getting to the aircraft if he slid on his a**e rather than walking.

Surely in this day and age of compensation claims it would be sensible to de-ice a particular stand prior to an aircraft pulling onto it, even if that aircraft had to hold on the taxiway for 3-4 minutes.

Are the airports of this country opening themselves up to a new wave of insurance claims due to their lack of care to the passenger?

[DeepC]

I was once a passenger on a flight operating out of LTN when they decided theat spraying deicer on the stand would decrease the risk of passengers going base over apex. Pity they didn't realise that de-icer is a factor of 10 more slippy than ice. What started as a slightly treacherous stretch of bitmac became very nearly unusable.

DeepC

[Jordan D]

The Question is, is it worth the investment into anti-snow/snow clearing measures at certain airports when they are used so infrequently. Its one thing having them at Inverness/ABZ/EDI/GLA, etc., but another at MAN (the home of rain), BHX, LHR/STN/LTN/LGW etc.

Jordan

[exrotarybooty]

Bournemouth International Airport, Hurn, was a fantastic sight yesterday morning, with all the 'diversions' lined up. :ok:

However, the main road was a major hazard, not from snow and ice, but motorists trying to take in the view, and not end up Cat 5 at the same time!

The cash point was emptied by the first pax to use it! :cool:

Ah well, off to the beach to build on my tan.

Derek

[Young Paul]

I've diverted twice for snow worse than forecast. On both occasions, I held for over half an hour first. So where were these unprepared places that I couldn't get into?

Paris CDG
Bergen, Norway

So maybe we in the UK aren't so awful after all ......

[PAXboy]

This is cross posted from the Snow thread that is running in this forum. Posted by DeepC
As someone else has stated on PPRuNe....
The type of snow we get in the UK is generally of a different type to more snow prone countries. It is typically very wet snow. Not blowable, brushes sometimes do more harm than good, salting has a very limited effect when it snows as hard as it did this afternoon in the Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex regions. Very heavy, very wet snow.

Not the sort that has very good skid resitance when compact either so not an option to operate on compacted snow.

Typically we only get snow when it is within between about +2 and -5 degrees. Any colder and we don't often get snow. The problem comes when you have snow around sunset when the snow lays quickly but then the temperature drops lower and the slush freezes. Then it is very dificult to clear.

That is very helpful information and explains a lot. I was in my car when two inches arrived within half an hour, about 15 miles from LTN. Gritting lorries were trapped in the traffic jams and vehicles were sliding all over the place. The biggest problem came from the freezing conditions that followed as the skies cleared. I do not think that much can be done until the snow has landed.

[mmeteesside]

That flight (SN 0W) always causes mayhem doesn't it, something should be done about it!

mmeteesside