Snow hits Mumbai-Delhi-London flights

Dozens of Indian air passengers to London, Dublin and western Europe have postponed or cancelled their flights following heavy snow fall in Britain. Though the airports in Britain and Ireland are open and functioning, a large number of flights from across the world are delayed or cancelled.

Adding to the worries of the air passengers is the fact that road transport has also been severly affected, which poses extra trouble for passengers from India.

Though British Airways and Virgin Atlantic websites have warned travellers of the snow-related flight disruptions, Indian airlines like Jet Airways and Kingfisher are yet to alert their passengers through their websites.

Private airlines in India operating flights to snow-hit London include Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways. Other prominent airlines in the Mumbai-London route are British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Air travellers from India to London may have a tough time ahead, as weather forecast for this week has shown that temperature will be around 1 degree towards the end of the week. Britain’s civic services are already creaking under the heavy snow fall and schools are closed for a second day.

Airlines like Aer Lingus and Ryanair have cancelled or delayed a large number of flights to London. Some of the aircraft are stuck at British airports, which were unable to make it back to their home hubs.

BAA, Britains leading airport operator for Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Southampton and Naples warned of snow and adverse weather conditions at the airports. Most of the BAA airports are operating. At Heathrow, the airport’s both runways are working fine. Out of a daily total of around 1,300 flights, 26 arrivals and 19 departures were cancelled on Tuesday. On Monday, 868 flights were cancelled. The Southampton airport is still closed, though its runway has been cleared of snow.
According to BAA, the airlines operating flights are planning to return flight services to normal, but most airlines are still cagey.

A Cyprus Air flight earlier slipped off the taxiway after landing at Heathrow, and its front wheel got lodged in the grass. Ice and snow are blamed for the incident. After this incident, both runways were closed for a while. Later, one was reopened.

Virgin Atlantic said that the flight No VS0301 Delhi to London Heathrow has been cancelled, since the aircraft was unable to leave the London airport.