Gatwick and City Airport closed due snow
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Gatwick and City Airport closed due snow
Just heard on bbc news that gatwick and london city have closed while they clear the "snow" from the runways/taxiways,
why werent they ready for this as its been forecasted all day!
why werent they ready for this as its been forecasted all day!
Warning Toxic!
Disgusted of Tunbridge
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I think the 'outrage' at LGW closing for snow clearance stems from 'how come other airports can stay open during snow clearance and still maintain operations?'. Wel, the reason is simple: we have hamstrung LGW, the country's second or third airport, with a single runway. The Emergency 'Runway' is not suitable for contaminated runway operations. So we have to wait for the snow to fall, close the runway and clear it. Somehow the fuzzy brained idiots have persuaded us that LGW can survive on a single runway, and they are trying to persuade us that LHR can make do with two! Even Dubai is getting six! So there is no point blaming LGW or BAA for this- you don't invest- you pay when problems happen.
We will realise what fools they are when UKplc slides below Italy, and we lose the business centre that was the City of London to Frankfurt and Paris. We have to stop this lash-up the UK has become if we want to be one of the wealthier nations. We don't seem to be able to do anything unless it is on the cheap.
We will realise what fools they are when UKplc slides below Italy, and we lose the business centre that was the City of London to Frankfurt and Paris. We have to stop this lash-up the UK has become if we want to be one of the wealthier nations. We don't seem to be able to do anything unless it is on the cheap.
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<<I think the 'outrage' at LGW closing for snow clearance stems from 'how come other airports can stay open during snow clearance and still maintain operations?'.>>
I think you'll find that most of the LTMA airports were closed this morning. Heathrow has suffered dozens of cancellations, both inbound and outbound.
Having worked most of my life at Heathrow I know a little about the problems - and understand them. It's simply not feasible to have the airports operating normally in those weather conditions, given that we don't experience them that often. In my 31 years working with Heathrow traffric I saw snow on a handful of occasions and only once or twice was it serious.
I guess if we had a really bad heat wave and the tarmac started to melt there would also be "outrage"!!
I think you'll find that most of the LTMA airports were closed this morning. Heathrow has suffered dozens of cancellations, both inbound and outbound.
Having worked most of my life at Heathrow I know a little about the problems - and understand them. It's simply not feasible to have the airports operating normally in those weather conditions, given that we don't experience them that often. In my 31 years working with Heathrow traffric I saw snow on a handful of occasions and only once or twice was it serious.
I guess if we had a really bad heat wave and the tarmac started to melt there would also be "outrage"!!
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The snow shows why it is important not to put all the UKs long haul into Heathrow. We have lost routes at other airports to keep Heathrow full. More be spread out so that some service is maintained. You could then come from the US and get the train from Mancester or Birmingham. Instead we have a system were almost everything goes via LHR.
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Befree
Until there are some major upgrades to the UK rail network then that is a non-starter. How many businessmen would want to fly to Man and then spend quite a few hours on the UK's ailing rail network to get to London? It just wouldn't happen
Until there are some major upgrades to the UK rail network then that is a non-starter. How many businessmen would want to fly to Man and then spend quite a few hours on the UK's ailing rail network to get to London? It just wouldn't happen
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I think the 'outrage' at LGW closing for snow clearance stems from 'how come other airports can stay open during snow clearance and still maintain operations?'. Wel, the reason is simple: we have hamstrung LGW, the country's second or third airport, with a single runway. The Emergency 'Runway' is not suitable for contaminated runway operations. So we have to wait for the snow to fall, close the runway and clear it. Somehow the fuzzy brained idiots have persuaded us that LGW can survive on a single runway, and they are trying to persuade us that LHR can make do with two! Even Dubai is getting six! So there is no point blaming LGW or BAA for this- you don't invest- you pay when problems happen.
We will realise what fools they are when UKplc slides below Italy, and we lose the business centre that was the City of London to Frankfurt and Paris. We have to stop this lash-up the UK has become if we want to be one of the wealthier nations. We don't seem to be able to do anything unless it is on the cheap.
We will realise what fools they are when UKplc slides below Italy, and we lose the business centre that was the City of London to Frankfurt and Paris. We have to stop this lash-up the UK has become if we want to be one of the wealthier nations. We don't seem to be able to do anything unless it is on the cheap.
Bang on the button !
It's things like this that makes over 200,000 peple want to leave this ( once fantastic ) country every year !!
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Just to clarify, both main and standby runways at Gatwick and most, if not all, other airports are not suitable for contaminated runway operations. Gatwick's standby runway is visual operations only, shorter length than the main, achieves less capacity than the main and has limited approach and ruway lighting, so when it snows and runways become contaminated the main is closed and swept with primary taxiway routes also swept, which may include part of the standby runway as it is used as a primary taxiway when not used as a runway.
