LONDON: The marquees are out again at Heathrow airport and the queues are back. This time the culprit is not a terrorist plot but fog. Hundreds of domestic and short-haul flights to Europe have been cancelled and weathermen warn that the fog and chaos will continue on Friday.
Services from all airports in the UK have been disrupted since Wednesday when dense fog enveloped the British Isles but airports in the South of England such are Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Cardiff are the worst affected.
Heathrow, the busiest international airport in the world, has had to cancel more than 350 flights on Thursday, a 40 per cent reduction in flights taking off, with about 40,000 people stranded at the airport.
With the Christmas weekend approaching this is most popular time for people to travel, many just trying to get home in time for the holidays with family.
The Association of British Travel Agents said about three million people are set to go abroad over Christmas and New Year, with southern Spain, north Africa, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and New York among the top destinations. The peak day for travel is expected to be Friday.
Flights to and from India are unaffected and running as per schedule with only minor delays. “Our flights to and from India have been operating on schedule. We only had one delay with a flight from Chicago yesterday being diverted to Paris because of the fog in London,” KD Row, General Manager, Air India told DNA. Air India operates 31 flights from Heathrow and 10 from Birmingham a week.
“It is the short haul flights which are the worst affected because flights will not get the clearance to take off unless the weather at their destination has the all clear for landing,” explained Row.
There is severe fog warning for most of the UK and parts of Europe up to Christmas. “Mumbai is fine, it’s Delhi and London that we have problems with. Yesterday we waited for the fog to lift in the afternoon, but today the fog hasn't even lifted in the afternoon” added Row. British Airways, the worst affected airline, cancelled all domestic flights from Heathrow on Thursday, and rescheduled them for Friday.
