Gatwick Airport is still suffering from major disruptions to flights due to recent fog, meaning safety restrictions are still in place and causing problems. This comes on what is expected to be the busiest day of the year for the airport’s Christmas period. Gatwick Airport apologised to travellers and advised that “poor visibility” could cause delays to flights throughout the day. Hundreds of flights across the UK’s major airports have already been cancelled or delayed since Friday, resulting in advice to customers to check their flight status before travelling. Although the weather has improved somewhat, London’s National Air Traffic Services stated that temporary air restrictions are still ongoing for some of the airports in the London area.
So far, Gatwick Airport has not reported cancellations but delays to arrivals and departures are being displayed on its boards. Sunday is also set to be the busiest day of the holiday, with 769 flights scheduled to take place. Heathrow has not seen any cancellations caused by fog. However, initially, some delays and cancellations did appear on their arrivals and departures boards although the cause of these is as yet unknown. Stansted and Luton airports have confirmed that they are not affected by the fog.
According to BBC Weather, fog is still not as widespread as it was before but is mostly limited to central and south England, as well as southern Wales. By Sunday afternoon, the fog may have dissipated in some areas already hit by it. The distress caused by lack of flights is not just limited to the fog. Many pilots and flights may be out of place due to previous delays and cancellations, leading to further disruption. Major UK airports including Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff have also experienced disruptions to flights on Friday and Saturday.
The extent of the problem that airports face is highlighted by the re-scheduling problems caused by delayed and missed flights. Luton Airport, for example, saw 50 easyJet flights cancelled on Friday with frustrated passengers unable to get other flights until Tuesday. This highlights the difficulties airports face in handling the issue of re-scheduling comprehensive flight schedules
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