Heathrow Snow Chaos was avoidable - and prompts investment

Hopefully we'll see a little less chaos next time it snows in the UK then...

Airport operator BAA will invest £50m into Heathrow to make sure there is no repeat of the snow chaos that ground the airport to a halt last Christmas.

For the full story see http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1146954.php

The report says the impact of inclement weather was "not fully anticipated", airlines and BAA had no agreed plan in place for bad weather, the airport lacked the necessary equipment for snow, there was a failure of communication between the airport and the airlines, passengers were not kept informed properly and many were "left in distress".

It estimates that some 9,500 people slept at Heathrow on December 18, when the bad weather really began.

It's also worth noting the knock-on effect this had. We know quite a few people who gave up trying to get away at Xmas because of this - and we were hearing at the time of many chalets under-occupied (and even empty) over the Xmas week.

What an odd season - too much snow in the UK (well, in England... no complaints in Scotland!) and not enough in France. :shock:

yes heathrow need to be far better equipped for the snow next winter to avoid all the flight cancellations...If Geneva, Zurich, Turin, Grenoble, Chambery etc etc, and all other places in Europe can get flights moving in the snow, then UK can get there act together.. When you think how much money people are spending on their flights........