2013-01-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — Following a joint decision by Heathrow, airlines and air traffic control, the flight schedule at Heathrow tomorrow will be reduced in order to minimise the expected disruption caused by snow and low visibility.
Latest forecasts for tomorrow show a high probability of around 2-6cm of accumulating snow and low visibility at periods throughout the day. This will reduce the capacity of the airport and without action would cause significant disruption to passengers and flights.
The flight schedule for 20th January will be reduced by 20% and details of which flights will be cancelled will be announced by airlines when they have finalised their schedules. It is possible that weather conditions at other European airports will increase the number of cancellations. Passengers due to travel tomorrow are urged to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.
When there is low visibility, more space has to be left between aircraft. Many airports have plenty of spare runway capacity so aircraft can be spaced out more during low visibility without causing delays and cancellations. Because Heathrow operates at almost full capacity, there is simply no room to reschedule the delayed flights.
Cancelling flights in advance introduces space into the schedule and aims to reduce disruption for passengers by:
- Allowing airlines to rebook passengers onto un-allocated seats on other flights, significantly reducing the number of passengers that cannot travel that day
- Giving passengers clear information about the status of their flight so they can rebook from home or their hotel
- Helping to avoid flights being cancelled at short notice, significantly reducing the chances of people staying at terminals overnight
Heathrow Chief Operating Officer, Normand Boivin, said: ‘We apologise for the disruption caused to passengers by the expected snow and low visibility. Cancelling flights in advance of disruptive weather is a procedure used increasingly around the world, as it means the greatest number of passengers can fly with the minimum amount of disruption.’
The decision to reduce the flight schedule is made by a group called the Heathrow Airport Demand and Capacity Balancing Group (HADACAB). It comprises representatives from all groups associated with scheduling flights in and out of the airport so that consensus can be reached over the revised schedule.
The process of cancelling flights in advance of severe weather warnings is similar to that used by many leading airports across the world as a way to allow passengers to make better informed decisions about their travel arrangements before arriving at the airport.
Notes to editors
- The decision to introduce a reduced flight schedule was made by the Heathrow Airport Demand and Capacity Balancing Group (HADACAB) which met at 1000 this morning.
- HADACAB members include BAA (Chair); NATS (air traffic control); The Heathrow Airline Operators Committee (AOC); Airport Co-ordination Limited (ACL); the chair of the Heathrow Scheduling Committee; British Airways; Virgin Atlantic; and other airlines at the discretion of the AOC.
- Rules governing reducing capacity at Heathrow are contained in the “Heathrow Procedures for Temporarily Reduced Capacity” and were agreed by an extraordinary meeting of Heathrow airlines in April 2011. The full document is available at: http://www.acl-uk.org/UserFiles/File/LHR%20Local%20Guideline%20%204%20-%20v6.pdf
- Heathrow is the only airport in the UK that has a dedicated on site Met Office forecaster who provides frequent updates to the airport community about the likelihood of weather impacting on flights to and from the airport. Heathrow also works with MeteoGroup weather forecasters to gain a second opinion where necessary.
Contact information
Heathrow Airport media centre
+44 (0)20 8745 7224
heathrowmediacentre@baa.com