Weather & Technical Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

[Aviador]

Flybe Gatwick flight forced landing

A Flybe plane with 82 passengers on board operating a flight from Gatwick Airport, was diverted to make an emergency landing at Exeter Airport. The twin-engine Embraer 195 was en route from Gatwick to Jersey when a computer warning indicated a technical fault.

An airline spokesman said the aircraft's pilot took the decision to land at Exeter ‘as a precaution’. No-one was injured and all the passengers have been transferred to another aircraft.

The technical fault meant the plane needed a longer runway than Jersey's to land. The onward flight has been delayed by poor visibility in Jersey.

Source

I presume the diversion to Exeter was due to the fact that it's the airlines base. I suspect that the parts required to fix the problem were probably located there.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

There's been major disruption this evening at Gatwick because of snow. Easyjet has cancelled all flights from the airport tomorrow morning.

 

[TheLocalYokel]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Snow closure

The heavy snow that is affecting much of the country has now closed Gatwick Airport so the runway can be cleared.

According to an airport website notice it will re-open when safe to do so.

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

According to the BBC flights are still severely disrupted at Gatwick. I don't understand why they are still having so many problems at the airport when most others are functioning at near normal levels.

 

[News Guru]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Less than 50% of easyJet Gatwick flights take off on time

easyJet suffered a blow to its reputation after new figures revealed that its Gatwick flights - its largest UK base - are less punctual than Air Zimbabwe, the Telegraph reports. Data compiled by the airport show just 48 percent of its flights from the airport took off on time last month. Air Zimbabwe managed 50 percent on time and BA 85.7 percent.

According to the figures, in January, 61.8 percent of easyJet's international flights were on time. In February the figure was 60.1 percent, in March 68.5 percent, in April 74.2 percent, in May 54.4 percent and in June 48 percent. On domestic flights, the picture is similar. Just over half of easyJet's UK services were late taking off in June, the figures show. Over the same period, BA's worst month was 76 percent, and its best 93.5 percent.

EasyJet yesterday blamed the fall-off in performance on air-traffic control problems on the Continent. Greek, French and Italian air-traffic controllers have staged periodic strikes this year to protest against government austerity plans. A spokesman told the newspaper: ‘There have been 40 strikes so far this year. We are disproportionately hit because most of our flights go over the affected airspace.' Late-arriving aircraft meant knock-on effects on the schedule, he added.

Source

 

[Aviador]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

The BBC is reporting that Gatwick Airport will be closed until tomorrow morning at the earliest because of snow.

 

[lbaspotter]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Gatwick is again snow closed. All arrivals are either been diverted or Cancelled. Some flight departures will be allowed to leave overnight.

It is hoped that the situation will be review at 06:00 tomorrow, Tuesday, 21/12/10.

 

[News Guru]

Re: Diversions, Delays & Cancellations

Gatwick flights returning to normal

Flights at Gatwick are returning to normal today following the recent heavy snowfall. A spokeswoman for the airport said the runway was open but ‘knock-on’ delays and cancellations would continue, with many planes due to operate flights today out of position (not at the airport) Passengers hoping to fly from the airport have been urged to check with airlines before they leave home

Yesterday Gatwick's chief executive Stewart Wingate said £8m had been spent increasing Gatwick's fleet of snow clearing vehicles from 47 to 95. He said: ‘This investment will give us the largest snow fleet of any UK airport, demonstrating our commitment to keeping Gatwick operating in the toughest of weather conditions.'

‘We took delivery of the first two additional snow ploughs early on Saturday morning - just before the latest snowfall - and put them straight to work to get our airlines and passengers moving again. When the remaining equipment arrives - some next week and the rest in early 2011 - Gatwick will have the same snow clearance capability as Oslo airport.’

Source

 

[lbaspotter]

All British Airways flights before 14:00hrs on Tuesday, May 24th from London Gatwick to the Scotland, which includes shuttle services to Edinburgh & Glasgow are now Cancelled due to the Ash Cloud.

 

[Aviador]

Hundreds of passengers diverted from Gatwick Airport

More than 1,000 passengers expecting to arrive at London Gatwick have been diverted to other airports after flights were unable to land for a time.

Planned urgent maintenance on the main runway and poor visibility saw 24 flights due after 00:10 BST re-directed to Stansted, Luton and Bristol.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18260390

I wonder if the airport authority will be fined by the individual airlines concerned. It sounds like bad planning on behalf of the airport.

 

[News Guru]

Flights disrupted by fog and power cut at Gatwick airport

Early morning fog combined with a mid-day power cut has resulted in chaos for thousands of air travellers at one of London's busiest airports.

The fog led to delays and some cancellations at Heathrow, London City and Gatwick airports, with British Airways among airlines affected.

Gatwick was then hit by a powercut at 1pm, causing an effective shut down of the south terminal.

Full story: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 84097.html

 

[News Guru]

Gatwick Airport power problems leave thousands stranded

Thousands of passengers had their Christmas travel plans ruined when they were stranded at Gatwick Airport after stormy weather.

Power problems at its north terminal affected check-ins.

All departures, apart from British Airways, were switched to the south terminal but dozens of flights were cancelled as systems struggled to cope.

Gatwick said engineers were still working to fix the problem but all of Wednesday's flights would operate.

The airport said flooded electricity sub-stations led to the problems.

All departures, apart from British Airways, were switched to the south terminal but dozens of flights were cancelled as systems struggled to cope.

Gatwick said engineers were still working to fix the problem but all of Wednesday's flights would operate.

The airport said flooded electricity sub-stations led to the problems.

It added that all of the Christmas Day departures, except for British Airways flights, would continue to operate from the South Terminal.

BBC Newsbeat reporter Declan Harvey, who spent more than 11 hours waiting for a flight to Belfast, said: "Police are manning the information desks. Staff have gone 'Awol' as police do what they can to give out information.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-25503513

 

[News Guru]

Airlines angry at Gatwick’s failure to plan for storm

Thousands of travellers were stranded from Christmas Eve onwards

Airline bosses have called for the private equity owners of Gatwick to be held accountable for the festive chaos at the airport after it admitted being unprepared for heavy winter storms.

Thousands of travellers were stranded from Christmas Eve onwards after multiple power cuts took the North Terminal out of action. Last night, four days on, airlines were still complaining of power problems at the airport.

Read more: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/ ... 2013_12_27

 

[Aviador]

I think the airlines need to get a sense of realism here. The airport was subject to a severe winter storm which caused an outage in it's standard electrical supply. Most airports have a degree of auxiliary power for when things like this happen but airport terminals are huge buildings which require significant amounts of energy to maintain a fully functioning operation. Usually standby power sources will only be used to feed essential services and in an airport terminal building this will usually be emergency exit lights and various other essential things. Undoubtedly, airlines and more importantly their customers will have been deeply distressed by the outage especially so close to Christmas but these kind of problems have to be expected under the circumstances.

 

[Seasider]

I am afraid it's the present day culture. "If something goes wrong, it's somebody's fault, and I want compensation"
Back up Generators are only for short emergency periods until the mains comes back on. I am sure the same people would complain if the Airport added on £50 per flight to pay for enough back up Generators to ensure continuous service even in the most extreme of conditions.

 

[News Guru]

Gatwick’s bosses summoned by MPs to explain Christmas chaos

Gatwick bosses are being summoned by MPs to explain the Christmas Eve chaos that left thousands of travellers stranded.

The House of Commons Transport Committee wants senior executives from the airport to appear in front of a hearing into the cancellations, which were caused by a power failure.

It emerged as the committee published a report warning that Britain needs to improve its defences against winter snow and storms that disrupt railways, roads and air travel.

Read more: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transpor ... 36825.html

 

[Aviador]

Official statistics provided by the Civil Aviation Authority say that London Gatwick airport is the worst airport in the UK for delays.

 

[Aviador]

Gatwick Airport runway forced to close due to staff sickness
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tra...-to-close-due-to-staff-sickness-a3809406.html

I imagine some airlines will be seeking compensation after this one?

 

[David_itl]

Here's what I believe are the diversions due to the drones

View attachment 11712

 

[David_itl]

6am opening is what the plan. In the meantime, I've sailed past 100 diverted services today with a few more to come!