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LONDON - British Airways has had to cancel around 180 of Thursday's 400 short-haul flights to and from Heathrow Airport due to lingering heavy fog.
Domestic routes and flights between Heathrow and Europe were already badly hit on Wednesday local time, with more than 200 flights cancelled, while BA said it had managed to operate its longhaul schedule despite some lengthy delays.
Some 18 flights from Gatwick Airport were also cancelled on Wednesday, it said.
"As a consequence of the expected severe fog British Airways is cancelling all domestic services to and from London Heathrow on Thursday," BA said in a statement.
"It is also cancelling a large number of European services including significant numbers of services from London Heathrow to Paris and Brussels," the statement said.
It said the airport would be able to handle only about 50 per cent of its normal traffic on Thursday.
The airline said it expected the fog to last until Friday and asked people due to travel on cancelled flights from Heathrow not to go to the airport.
"Customers who were due to travel on any cancelled service are able to rebook, re-route their ticket (subject to availability) or claim a full refund," BA said.
BA shares gained ground despite the news, closing up 0.5 per cent at 525-3/4 pence versus London's FTSE 100 index which fell 0.1 per cent.
- REUTERS
