hips don't lie: Latest travel advice: Airport services return to normal, but heavy snow in Europe could still cause delays

By
Travelmail Reporter

PUBLISHED:

05:58 EST, 22 January 2013

|

UPDATED:

06:03 EST, 22 January 2013

UK airport services are returning to normal today but passengers have been warned that adverse weather conditions are still affecting some flights in Europe.

Heathrow said that although most services are back on track, it has had to cancel around 46 flights due to heavy snow affecting airports in Europe.

A spokesperson advised that passengers set to travel today double check with their airline before leaving home to make sure their flight is confirmed.

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Big freeze: After days of poor weather conditions, services at UK airports are returning to normal

Gatwick has a similar message for
passengers, saying that its services have returned to normal but warning
that there may be some delays due to weather conditions across the rest
of the UK and Europe.

The
website states: ‘We do advise you to check the status of your flight
with your airline before travelling to the airport. Due to freezing
conditions overnight, some rail connections may be affected so please
check with your train operator and make sure you allow plenty of time
for your journey.’

The Gatwick Express has made some cancellations to services, which are listed on its website.

FLIGHTS CANCELLED? CAN YOU GET COMPENSATION?

The thousands of travellers affected by this week’s bad weather are unlikely to get any compensation from their airlines as snow falls under the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ category for which pay-outs to passengers are not covered.

The best most travellers can hope for is to be offered an alternative flight on a different day unless they can prove that other flights were taking off at the time they were due to fly in the same conditions.

According to Which!, airlines are often guilty of stretching ‘the definition of extraordinary circumstances further than they should’ so it’s worth investigating.

Despite closures across many regional
airports yesterday, many have reopened this morning, including Norwich,
Robin Hood Airport Doncaster, East Midlands and Leeds Bradford.

Each airport has live flight
updates on its website, although passengers are still advised to check
with their airline to confirm their flight before departing for the
airport.

Leeds Bradford warns that adverse weather conditions are causing some disruption to flight schedules.

Manchester Airport closed for an hour
yesterday at around 9am due to heavy snow but a spokesperson confirmed the airport is open today
and services are returning to normal.

Birmingham Airport is
also fully open and operational, although passengers are advised that there may be
minor delays and are urged to check the status of their flight with
their airline.

Luton is also warning of minor delays
as planes are de-iced, but is operating as normal, as are Stansted,
Edinburgh, Newcastle, Humberside and Southampton.

Bristol airport is also advising
passengers travelling to European destinations to check with their
airlines before travel due to snow disruption on the Continent.

It’s not just airports that remain
affected. In a bid to protect trains from ice, Eurostar has winter
weather speed restrictions in place which are causing one-hour delays to
services.

The following trains have been
cancelled as a result: 9007 (07:13), 9009 (07:43), 9117 (08:52), 9148
(17:04) 9044 (17:31). Passengers today can exchange their tickets
for travel on a different date.

How the weather is affecting your travel plans: Rail, ferry and airport updates

AIRPORTS

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Icy conditions and heavy snow in Western Europe could still cause some delays

MANCHESTER: Open.

BIRMINGHAM: Open with some minor delays.

NORWICH: Open.

EAST MIDLANDS: Open.

ROBIN HOOD DONCASTER: Open.

GATWICK: Open – running as normal although expect some delays from disruption at other airports.

STANSTED: Open and operational.

LUTON: Open with minor delays.

EDINBURGH: Open – check with airlines before travelling.

LEEDS BRADFORD: Open with minor delays.

HEATHROW: Open and operational, but some European flights affected by snow.

LIVERPOOL JOHN LENNON: Open – check with airlines before travelling due to European snow conditions.

NEWCASTLE: Open and operational.

HUMBERSIDE: Open and operational.

SOUTHAMPTON: Open – check with airlines before travelling.

CARDIFF: Open and operational.

BRISTOL: Open, but warning about some European destinations due to snow – check with airlines before travelling.

EUROSTAR

The bad weather has put speed restrictions in place meaning all Eurostar services are delayed by around an hour. As a result of the delays, several services have been cancelled. Passengers due to travel today can exchange tickets.