'Absolute scenes': London airports struggled to clear snow and passengers after a cold weather event. Jake Threadgould; Brasov Andy; Harry Baldock
'Absolute scenes': London airports struggled to clear snow and passengers after a cold weather event. Jake Threadgould; Brasov Andy; Harry Baldock
Passengers were seen sleeping on the floor of London airports overnight as snow shutdown the runways at Stansted and Luton.
Icy conditions and up to 10 cm of snow shut down two of the city’s busiest runways overnight on 11 to 12 December with the airports advising passengers to check for updates with their airlines.
Passengers were quick to share their displeasure and images of passengers camping out at check in counters.
One traveller said they were on a boarded Ryanair flight when they heard the dreaded words “Stansted Airport is Closed”, sharing pictures of snow settling on the wings of the aircraft.
“The airport is open and the runway is operational,” Luton airport said in a statement on Monday.
“However please be aware some airlines have taken the decision to cancel some flights and others are subject to delay while airlines de-ice their aircraft.”
16 flights were cancelled and 95 delayed at Stansted on Sunday and Monday, according to Flight Aware.
In a statement seen by the London Evening Standard, an airport spokesperson said Stansted was forced to suspend flights twice over the course of the day.
“Due to adverse weather conditions, the runway was temporarily closed from 09.15am to 10.05am for snow clearance, and again from 12.27pm to 12.51pm, and has now reopened.”
While the snow began to clear, the backlog of passengers remained.
Travellers waiting to rebook said the understaffed airport struggled to clear the backlog.
Ireland Correspondent at BBC News, Emma Vardy said there were “absolute scenes” at the departure gate. Unable to get back to Belfast, she said that some of the passengers had been at the airport for over 24 hours.
“London Stansted has resembled a car park today. Lots of flights cancelled or severely delayed and many passengers sleeping on the floor at departures after being stranded overnight.”
