Both runways at Heathrow closed
 

A British Airports Authority spokesman said both runways at Heathrow Airport were now closed.Due Heavy snowfall across the London area last night has severely disrupted transport

Passengers were advised to check before leaving for the airport.

Although Gatwick Airport was open, there were significant delays and cancellations, he added

Safe flights every one

Q) Egtt/qmrlc/iv/nbo/a/000/999/5129n00028w005
From: 09/02/02 08:46 To: 09/02/02 12:46 Est
E) Rwy 09r/27l Closed Due Snow

Q) Egtt/qmrlc/iv/nbo/a/000/999/5129n00028w005
From: 09/02/02 08:51 To: 09/02/02 12:51 Est
E) Rwy 09l/27r Closed Due Snow

BBC 5 live reporting that a Cyprus Air slid off the the Taxiway :=

BBC News now have pictures

When the BAA offload LGW will they be purchasing some snow clearing equipment for LHR? Personally I doubt it.

Yes CY has slid off RWY27R, and is sitting with nose wheel on the grass. It was the last to land before they closed the runways.

BA have cancelled all departure up to 1700 today :eek:

Global Warming?

huh, whatever!

Bacardi and Coke thanks Myfanwy.

Rarely has a day off seemed such a blessing :ok:

From BBC News Website

"Plane slips at Heathrow taxiway


http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...26_plane_1.jpg Passengers were unhurt in the incident


A plane has slipped off a taxiway at Heathrow Airport lodging its front wheel in a grassy area.
The snow and ice are being blamed for the incident which happened when the Cyprus Airways flight landed at 0820 GMT and was moving to Terminal 1.
The British Airports Authority (BAA) said passengers are unharmed and were remaining on the aircraft. A BAA spokesperson said the front wheel of the plane had landed in the grass area and was being removed. BAA said the aeroplane was the last flight to land before both the runways at the airport were closed due to snow."

Looks like she's well sunk in there, that'll be fun to dig out in this.

What a dismal, pathetic country this is. Work-shy, incompetent and drowning in hubris. LHR doesn't deserve to be a major European hub.
BAA = B*gger All Aviation

Don't know about wrong side of the drag curve, seems like wrong side of the bed to me!

Aircarft now landing on 09R

Certainly are as they are flying over my house again! :} Not as regular as usual though....

Where would all of the flights due to land at Heathrow gone with other local airports closed? :suspect: I know they carry a certain amount of extra fuel...enough to get to Schipol with it's 6 runways!?

No doubt other places as well as Schipol too, seems like it's mainly London airports along with Lands End, Leeds and Southampton that have been having issues, so they could go to various places in the UK alone, never mind places like Eindhoven, Schipol, Zaventem, etc

agree totally.... spent xmas in Canada in 2005..

Landed at Montreal, had to wait 15 minutes while the snow plough had to dig a path to get us to the terminal... but did they close the airport.. not a chance...

Now... obviously Canada is geared to snow because they have it in greater quantities, but this is about 3 inches for gods sake! :ugh:

Glad I'm at home and not dealing with chaos. Warm fire and bottle of wine later I think!

It is very easy to sit back and declare how incompetent everybody is but given that this happens generally only once in every few years how many millions would you suggest we spend on equipment that will sit for years just in case? Who do we employ to drive all the equipment when needed? Dedicated people who sit around and work maybe two days in 5 years?

Countries like Canada and Scandinavia need the sort of equipment to deal with these conditions all winter every winter, it is like comparing apples and cheese.

Even in places where they are geared up for it I have been to the East coast USA with half the available airfields closed due snow.

Hey guys ........... relax


They have been doing quite well at LHR despite the conditions. Yesterday afternoon at about 3pm, they closed each runway in turn to put down a anti-ice cover. That kept the runways operational through out the evening. Arrived back at about 2130 with runways still very much operational and the taxiways & aprons just becoming a bit slippery. The drive home was not fun though. Most roads completely untreated or cleared. People driving like idiots. Accidents everywhere.

I'm 20 miles south of LHR and overnight we've had a foot of snow. These are tough conditions (the worst for 18 years apparently). That Cyprus air didn't just fall off the runway. As others have stated the runways are now operational again now - well done to all involved. I was in MXP (milan) last month and they closed the airport for 3hrs due snow - I can't remember anybody on PPRuNe kicking off about that then.

The main reason for the cancellations seems to be the inability of staff to get to work. The roads are still lethal. The authorities are not ploughing - just gritting and turning it to slush.

Take Care :ok:
T'Bug