London Heathrow Gatwick Airport Taxi Services

London Heathrow Gatwick Airport Taxi Services
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Saturday 19 January 2013

Heathrow Travel chaos as snow turns to ice

Snow hits Britain (PA)
Travellers have been stuck on planes or crowded terminals after heavy snow and poor visibilty closed
 Passengers sleep on the floor at Heathrow because of overcrowding after snow and ice hit the UK.

Weather: Snow And Ice Causes Heathrow Misery

The UK's busiest airport has been forced to cut its flight schedule by 20% as the country's transport network continues to struggle with freezing weather conditions.

Heathrow Airport in west London said it was reducing the number of flights scheduled for Sunday by at least a fifth after forecasters predicted another 2-6cm of snow and low visibility in the area.

Passengers are being urged to check with their airlines before travelling to the airport - where bosses are warning weather conditions at other European airports could further decimate schedules.


Passengers at Heathrow have been facing disruption after many were stranded on planes for seven hours or forced to spend a night on the floor.

More than 100 Saturday flights have been cancelled and travellers have been complaining about check-in queues of up to two hours as staff battle to clear a backlog caused by 400 cancellations on Friday.
Elsewhere, drivers are being warned of treacherous conditions after heavy snow on Friday across much of Britain turned to ice overnight.

A young woman from Peterborough was killed in a crash involving a number of vehicles shortly after 6pm on Friday, Lincolnshire Police said.

It is not known if anyone else was injured in the accident, which happened in bad weather on the A1 at Little Ponton, near Grantham.


Humberside Fire and Rescue said seven passengers were taken to hospital after a double-decker bus collided with two cars and ploughed into a garden.

The Met Office is forecasting more snow for Sunday and has issued yellow warnings for ice for large swathes of the country and a severe red warning for South Wales, which has experienced some of the worst weather.


With more heavy snow possible on Sunday, the Highways Agency has said its fleet of snow ploughs and gritters will be out in force throughout the weekend.

Heathrow said its runways were open on Saturday with no restrictions, but services were still being disrupted following Friday's heavy snow.

Of 104 flights cancelled on Saturday, 100 were with British Airways, which has faced criticism for its handling of the disruption so far.

Husband and wife David and Janet Brindle, from Cumbria, branded BA's customer service and treatment of passengers caught up in the chaos as "appalling" and said some people had been close to tears.
The couple sat on a plane at Manchester airport from 9am until 3pm on Friday and have been stuck at Heathrow since missing their connecting flight to New Zealand.

Mrs Brindle said: "They got us off the plane but our bags weren't off. Not a single person came to tell us what was happening.

"Most people missed their connecting long-haul flights from Heathrow. We were advised to make our own way to Heathrow, so that's what we did.

"Nobody knew what they were doing. They couldn't tell us anything - they were quite rude, actually."
A British Airways spokesman said: "We have unfortunately had to make a number of cancellations today, mainly due to knock-on disruption from yesterday.

"So we've got a number of aircraft out of position and it's quite a complex operation to put that back together."

BA says it is offering customers who no longer wish to travel this weekend the chance to rebook their flight at a later date and providing refunds and overnight accommodation, or letters to make a claim, to those who could not fly.


Some passengers on British Airways flights told Sky News that they have spent up to seven hours on aircraft which have never left the runway.

Sky Reporter Clare Fallon, at Heathrow, said: "It's a surreal sight, there are hundreds of people on the floor trying to get some sleep because they are essentially stranded here. Some have told me they have been here since 11am yesterday morning.

"People feel very frustrated and stressed, and they don't understand how a relatively small amount of snow has been able to cause so much chaos."

A Gatwick spokeswoman said the airport is operating as normal on Saturday, with 505 flights scheduled and no knock-on effect from earlier bad weather.

In Northern Ireland, around 2,400 homes have been left without electricity after the severe weather caused power cuts along the east Down coast.

The Highways Agency said several motorway lanes and major A roads had closed due to the snow and ice, as well as several crashes.

Drivers have been warned to be extra careful as freezing temperatures turn the snow to treacherous ice.
The deepest snowfall has been measured at 26cm in Sennybridge, Wales, although snow has been thawing in other areas and some train services have been returning to normal.

There have also been severe hold-ups for rail passengers, with many companies cancelling services to help them cope with problems caused by the weather.

Eurostar passengers are facing delays of up to 30 minutes due to speed restrictions in France and Virgin Trains cancelled a number of services from London to Birmingham to Manchester, while others were delayed.

But while commuters have been facing misery, the winter wonderland scenes have brought joy to thousands of youngsters who got a long weekend after schools were forced to shut.

The weather has also disrupted the sporting calendar, with six football matches in League One, eight in League Two and six in Scotland postponed.

Race meetings at Ascot and Haydock have also been called off.


Heavy snow is once again expected across the North East and Scotland, while other areas will see patchier coverage.

On Sunday, between 2-5cm of snow is predicted for the South East, the Midlands, East Anglia and Lincolnshire.

Darron Burness, from the AA, said commuting in the wintry conditions was "likely to test man and machine".
Those who decide to travel have been urged to travel prepared with a fully charged mobile phone, warm waterproof clothes, boots and a blanket, some food and drink, and have a torch, ice scraper, de-icer and a shovel.

London Heathrow Taxi Cab Chauffeur

Friday 11 January 2013

Fifth Dreamliner problem in a week

A fifth problem has been found on the Boeing plane in as many days, raising more safety fears.

An All Nippon Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner (PA library photo) 

America's aviation watchdog has ordered a comprehensive review of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner after a spate of incidents involving the aircraft.

The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said he is confident the Boeing 787 is safe, but he remains concerned about recent events, including a fire and a fuel leak earlier this week.
Michael Huerta, the FAA administrator, said there is nothing in the data the agency has seen to suggest the plane is not safe.

The watchdog announced it is undertaking a comprehensive review of the 787 to include "critical systems, including design, manufacture and assembly".

The manufacturer responded to fears over the plane and said: "Boeing is confident in the design and performance of the 787. It is a safe and efficient airplane that brings tremendous value to our customers and an improved flying experience to their passengers.

"The airplane has logged 50,000 hours of flight and there are more than 150 flights occurring daily."
The move by the US aviation authority was prompted after a fifth Dreamliner fault this week was reported on Friday morning.                                               London Heathrow Taxis

Oil was discovered leaking from the left engine of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA).

An ANA spokeswoman said the leak was found after the domestic flight landed safely at Miyazaki airport in southern Japan.

It came on the same day another Japanese 787 suffered a cracked cockpit window while in flight on a domestic route.

ANA said crew noticed a spider web-like crack in a window in front of the pilot's seat about 70 minutes into Friday's flight, which was close to its destination.

The Dreamliner, the world's first carbon-composite airliner, which has a list price of \$207m (£128m), has been beset by problems this week.

The plane was designed to use power plants made by General Electric and Britain's Rolls-Royce.
On Wednesday, a domestic flight was halted by ANA because brake parts to the rear left undercarriage needed replacing, a spokesman at Yamaguchi Ube Airport said.

A Japan Air Lines (JAL) jet was also grounded at Boston Logan International airport in the US following an engine fuel leak.           London Gatwick Airport Taxis

About 40 gallons of fuel spilled from the jet that was supposed to be bound for Tokyo.
That event followed the first incident of the week, which also occurred at Boston, on Monday.
Emergency services had been called after another JAL 787 filled with smoke shortly after passengers and crew had disembarked.

Firefighters used infrared cameras to locate the fire in a battery pack in the belly of a different Boeing 787 and extinguished the blaze within 20 minutes.

Sky sources revealed that if the battery fire had occurred during a transocean flight the aircraft may have been brought down.

The 787 Dreamliner made its first commercial flight in late 2011, after a series of production delays put deliveries more than three years behind schedule.

By the end of last year, Boeing had sold 848 Dreamliners, and delivered 49. JAL and ANA operate 24 of the planes.

After the Boston events, British carriers including BA, Virgin Atlantic and Thomson Airways reaffirmed their plans to integrate 787s into fleets this year and next.

In India - where state-owned Air India has taken delivery of six Dreamliners and has more on order - a senior official at the aviation regulator said there was concern at the recent spate of 787 glitches.
Meanwhile, an Air India spokesman said the airline's debut Dreamliner flight from India to Paris on Thursday went without a hitch.

 

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