Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Christmas flight chaos: more than 20 cancellations to and from Heathrow

London City airport also affected

Simon Calder
Travel Correspondent
Thursday 22 December 2016 03:41 EST
Comments
Mystery flights: the arrivals screen at London City airport
Mystery flights: the arrivals screen at London City airport (London City airport)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The “flow rate” of arrivals has been reduced for safety reasons.

More than 20 short-haul services to and from Heathrow have so far been cancelled. Most are with British Airways, which has the majority of operations at Britain’s busiest airport.

BA flights to and from Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Basel, Brussels, Edinburgh, Milan and Newcastle have been axed.

Aer Lingus flights to and from Belfast, Cork and Shannon have been cancelled, as well as a Lufthansa service to and from Frankfurt.

Poor visibility is also affecting services at Gatwick and London City — where six early morning arrivals have been diverted. Flights from Amsterdam, Antwerp, Dusseldorf, Zurich and two from Luxembourg landed instead at Southend or Stansted. Departures to Glasgow and the Isle of Man were cancelled.

British Airways tweeted: “Fog is affecting flights at London Heathrow, Gatwick & City today.”

With few spare seats on flights so close to Christmas, the number of cancellations is a concern. Around 3,000 passengers have so far been affected.

Passengers whose flights are cancelled because of poor weather do not automatically get re-booked on the next service to their destination; travellers booked on that flight take priority.

In disruption caused by fog, passengers are entitled to meals and accommodation until the airline can get them to their destinations, but not cash compensation.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in