International - Globescan   

Chaos at Heathrow

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Hundreds of passengers were stranded at Heathrow airport on Thursday after British Airways cancelled all domestic and a number of short-haul European flights because of thick fog. Long-haul international flights were also facing long delays. Several other airlines, including Lufthansa, too were affected amid warning of more delays as poor visibility was expected to continue over the next 24 hours. There was chaos and tempers ran high with people angrily complaining that they were not getting proper information about their flights. BA cancelled about 350 flights out of Heathrow and advised domestic passengers not to go to the airport. Flights out of Gatwick, Manchester and Coventry airports were also curtailed. The airline said the situation was "beyond British Airways' control'' and warned of a "really tough 48 hours'' ahead. An estimated three million people are expected to go abroad over Christmas and New Year, according to the Association of British Travel Agents.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

19 abducted in Batticaloa, claims TamilNet
Six-party talks make some progress
How the FBI tried to nail John Lennon
Turkmenistan President dead
The heart attack predictors
Somali Islamists "at war with Ethiopia"
Toll in Chinese coal mine disasters drops
Britain's super-rich indulge in esoteric spending
U.S. ponders naval build-up in Gulf
Chaos at Heathrow
Holocaust denier freed
Manmohan's speech positive, says Pakistan
LTTE expresses `gratitude'
Not influencing India's Iran policy: Boucher

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu