Snowfall in Europe hits flights from IGI

New Delhi: With large parts of Europe experiencing heavy snowfall, air traffic took a major hit with runways across the continent covered under a thick blanket of snow. In Delhi itself, at least one flight was cancelled while about five to six were delayed.
According to airline sources , they had the advantage of long haul flights — six to eight hour long — and hence had been able to make alternate arrangements for passengers. '' We rebooked many passengers and for those who were headed for the US and had stopovers in Europe, we booked them on direct flights. For those who were likely to miss connections, arrangements were made at the local airports ,'' said an official.
Finnair cancelled one of its flights but that was due to a cabin crew strike. '' Lufthansa and British Airways were among those airlines that had to delay flights. The delays ranged from one hour to four hours. The change in weather was rather sudden this year as such heavy snow normally falls around mid-December or January. Airports were not prepared but still managed to organise things in time. Several flights, including Air India's , took off on time from Delhi since the weather here is clear but it is anyone's guess whether they would be able to land or not,'' remarked another official.
Sources did say that the delays revealed IGI's unpreparedness to deal with several delays .
03/12/10 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Categories: Airports Dec 2010, Foreign Dec 2010