London:
Stranded travelers slept on makeshift beds at European airports on Sunday as wintry weather caused travel havoc, dashing the hopes of those attempting to head away for the holidays by road, rail and air. (
Read: Air India flights affected by London weather)
Leading British carrier, British Airways, has issued following statement for its passengers:
Severe weather continues to cause significant disruption to our operation.
Currently Heathrow has only one of its two runways operational and many areas of the airfield remain unusable including areas around parked aircraft.
As a result there will be a limited schedule of flights to and from the airport. We are adjusting our schedule to fit with the capacity of the airport for both flight departures and arrivals.
We have published our schedule up until 1200 on ba.com and are awaiting further updates from BAA before publishing the schedule for the remainder of the day. Customers should continue to check their flight status as more snow is forecast this afternoon which could cause further disruption to airport operations.
We would urge customers not to travel to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking on one of the flights that is operating.
Customers whose travel is not essential are encouraged to cancel their flight, in return for a full refund, or to consider changing their flight to another date over the next 12 months.
At Gatwick and London City, we are aiming to run as many flights as possible, although there is a reduced operation as a result of the weather disruption.
We are extremely sorry that customers are being inconvenienced and understand how frustrating this is. Our staff are working around the clock to do everything they can to help. We ask customers for their patience and understanding.
Customers should check on ba.com for the very latest information about their specific flight.
If their flight has been cancelled they can either chose to rebook on an alternative flight or they can claim a full refund.
For further information, please contact:
Nalini Neha
Fleishman Hillard
(M) 9004669760
nalini.neha@fleishman.com