Passengers rest at terminal five at Heathrow Airport on December 20, 2010 in London, England
TORONTO — Severe winter weather in Europe is continuing to affect thousands of Canadian air travellers hoping to make it home for the holidays, with Air Canada forced to cut two-thirds of its flights through London Heathrow Airport Monday while other airlines experience delays or cancellations on the mainland.
Snow and freezing fog have disrupted air travel across Europe for the past three days with as much as 20 centimetres of snow falling in parts of the U.K.
Airlines including Air Canada, Cathay Pacific, Qantas and Virgin Atlantic have been forced to cancel flights in the past 24 hours.
Air Canada chief operating officer Duncan Dee said the airline is able to operate one-third of its normal schedule due to restrictions at London Heathrow, meaning only six takeoffs and landings at the airport were allowed Monday.
“We will be using those flights primarily to return aircraft to Canada from London as well as moving to London one aircraft and passengers earlier diverted to Dublin,” Dee said in a statement.
“We recognize the inconvenience this situation is causing passengers anxious to travel and we are taking all measures to ensure customers travel safely to their destinations as soon as possible. However our ability to increase capacity is very limited due to slot constraints at Heathrow and the fact our flights are already fully booked for the holiday season.
“Customers and others going to the airport should consult our website for the latest information as conditions at the London airport are continually changing and we will be updating it through the day.”
Air Canada planned to operate five departures from London on Monday, including two to Toronto and one each to Halifax, Calgary and Vancouver.
The airline is encouraging would-be passengers to defer all non-essential travel plans and is waiving fees for flight cancellations and date changes.
Monday’s delays and cancellations come just a day after Air Canada was forced to cancel all of its departures from London to Canada.
The airline also said Monday that winter weather is causing lengthy delays at other northern European airports, notably Heathrow but also Gatwick Airport, south of London, which cancelled 30 flights Monday and was expecting freezing fog to mid-morning with snow flurries in the afternoon.
Amid the Heathrow crowds a Canadian doctor saw his holiday plans turned to mush by the snowstorm that shut down the airport.
Dr. Gerhard Benade, his wife and their two children have been stuck for two days waiting to fly out of England to see their relatives in South Africa, and now aren’t scheduled to leave until Christmas Eve.
“If you watch the media here, you would think it’s the greatest snow drop in history, but walking around the airport grounds here it’s maybe a couple of inches,” Benade said in a telephone interview Monday.
“They seem totally unprepared … maybe they should get a few Canadians or Albertans to show them how to deal with it.
“You would have a hard time finding enough snow to build a snowman.”
“They seem totally unprepared … maybe they should get a few Canadians or Albertans to show them how to deal with it.”
Patricia Krale, a spokeswoman for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, urged passengers to get in touch with their air carriers directly if they have any questions about possible delays or cancellations.
Pearson International Airport reported numerous delays and cancellations Monday, affecting outgoing flights to London, Montreal, Ottawa, Cincinnati, Boston and Calgary. The problems came at the busiest time of the year for the airport, with about 200,000 people passing through its gates during this past weekend.
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