Snow and freezing temperatures grounded flights across northern Europe on Monday, with those trying to get away for Christmas set to be frustrated further with more severe weather on the way.
BA said Heathrow airport would only be using one of its two runways on Tuesday — as on Monday — meaning the airport would be operating at a significantly reduced capacity.
It cancelled all short-haul flights after midday on Monday and some long-haul services.
Other carriers at Heathrow such as Virgin Atlantic, Cathay Pacific and Qantas have also been forced to cancel flights in recent days.
EUROPE-WIDE CHAOS
Over 1,000 flights at Germany’s main airports were cancelled and many more delayed after up to 40 cm of fresh snow blanketed the country on Monday, though Lufthansa said it was confident it would operate a full service by Wednesday.
Air France said there were serious delays to passenger flights and cargo operations at the two main Paris airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, following a snowstorm earlier on Monday.
Brussels airport said on its twitter feed that it could not guarantee de-icing of planes after 1400 GMT on Monday due to a shortage of de-icer caused by transport problems in France.
London’s mayor Boris Johnson called for a "Herculean effort" by Heathrow operator BAA and its contractors to get planes back in the air.
Britain’s Met Office said it expected "freezing temperatures and light to heavy snow" around Heathrow on Monday afternoon, with further snow expected on Tuesday morning.
BAA expects more flights to leave Heathrow on Monday than on Sunday, despite forecasts for more severe weather, but urged customers not to travel to the airport unless they have a confirmed booking on one of the flights that is operating.
BAA chief executive Colin Matthews told Sky News that "more flights would have to be cancelled" and that the airport would not run at full capacity for "some days to come".
Eurocontrol, the umbrella group for air-traffic control across 38 countries, estimates more 22,500 flights across Europe flights will be cancelled on Monday.
"We have today seen reductions up to 65 percent for major airports like Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, London and Berlin Tegel," said Ken Thomas, operations manager at Eurocontrol. "Many of the delays we are seeing now in Europe is because of the de-icing situation."
GATWICK
BA said it was aiming to run as many flights as it could from Gatwick, south of London, and the smaller London City airport in the east of the city.
A BA spokeswoman said it was too early to give any estimates on the likely cost of the disruption. The airline said it lost around GBP£15 million to GBP£20 million a day in passenger and freight revenue during the Icelandic ash closure.
