Snow disrupts travel in Europe
Major airports have cancelled up to a fifth of all flights but long-haul travel is largely unaffected.
Major airports in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt cancelled up to a fifth of flights on Sunday and more are expected on Monday as the bad weather continues.
London's Heathrow Airport cancelled 260 flights on Sunday, the equivalent of 20% of its usual schedule and the fourth day of disruption.
The Eurostar train service between London and the Continent also cancelled four trains because of snow and ice.
"Latest forecasts for tomorrow [Monday] show a high probability of low visibility conditions. This will reduce the capacity of the airport and without action would cause significant disruption to passengers and flights," a Heathrow statement says.
The cancellations on Monday would allow more time for other aircraft to take off and land, reducing the likelihood that there would be last-minute cancellations that would cause even more disruption to travellers, it says.
British Airways said about 30 of its flights were cancelled “mainly due to a knock-on disruption”.
The flights affected were domestic and short-haul journeys to Europe. London City airport is also “severely disrupted” but London’s second-busiest airport, Gatwick, is unaffected though there are delays.
In Frankfurt, 294 flights were grounded on Sunday, while France’s civilian aviation authority asked airlines to suspend 40% of traffic through Paris’ Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.
In Germany, trains are replacing the majority of short-haul flights.
Air France said it was maintaining all of its long-haul voyages and 60% of short- and medium-haul services. KLM cancelled 36 European flights to and from Amsterdam-Schiphol, mainly due to weather in other European cities.
NBR staff
Mon, 21 Jan 2013
Mon, 21 Jan 2013
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Snow disrupts travel in Europe
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