Not our finest hour! Planes grounded, thousands of festive holidays ruined, roads ungritted, drivers stranded for hours . . . and all because it snowe

By ARTHUR MARTIN, COLIN FERNANDEZ, RYAN KISIEL, RAY MASSEY and DAVID WILKES

Shovelling snow while it's still snowing: Workers at Heathrow try to clear the snow after all flights at the airport were grounded over the weekend


Millions of Christmas travellers remained stranded last night, fully 36 hours after heavy snowfall crippled the country.

Much of the transport network was paralysed – threatening to ruin the festive period for millions of families.

Furious airline passengers launched blistering attacks on beleaguered transport officials for effectively closing Heathrow airport, creating a backlog which could last until the next expected dumping of snow on Thursday.


Airport operators BAA use snow ploughs to clear runways and taxiways at Heathrow


A British Airways aeroplane is de-iced at Heathrow's Terminal 5


Misery at the departure gate


It emerged yesterday that British Airways called off hundreds of flights from Heathrow because it could not de-ice enough of its planes in time. While rival airlines continued to take off over the weekend, BA said it had cancelled flights from Friday onwards to give passengers ‘certainty’.

However, insiders claimed the truth was that the airline had been caught short by the weather, with too few staff available to tackle its frozen airliners.

Sources suggested the company was paying the price of poor labour relations. Employees were ‘getting their revenge’ by doing the minimum necessary.

Thousands of passengers were left furious with one describing ‘Third World’ conditions at Heathrow’s Terminal Five, from which all BA flights now depart.


Ploughing away: Weather conditions brought the UK's major airports to a standstill


Family time: A couple pull children on sledges at Dunham Massey park in Cheshire today


The road to nowhere: Passengers wait for information after being forced to sleep in the airport overnight


The most serious problems were at Heathrow and Gatwick, where many travellers were forced to spend a second night sleeping on the floors and in corridors. Drunken fights broke out at Heathrow as all flights into the airport were cancelled and only seven were allowed out.


The little one said, roll over': A group of students try to get some shut eye on the concourse at Gatwick airport


The airport’s management warned passengers to expect ‘lots of knock-on disruption and delays’ which will continue for days in the run-up to Christmas.

The backlog might not even be cleared before the next bout of snow, forecast for Thursday.

One senior aviation insider told the Daily Mail: ‘BA’s de-icing system went totally wrong on Friday. They didn’t have crews in place.’


Heathrow's Terminal 3 became a huge dormitory with passengers forced to sleep where they could find floor space


Airport officials confirmed that Heathrow is responsible for de-icing the runway and plane parking slots, known as stands. But it is down to each individual airline to de-ice its own planes.

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh and BAA boss Colin Matthews were in constant touch throughout the saga, but British Airways declined to comment on allegations of heated rows between the two. A BA spokesman said: ‘They speak all the time. Their conversations are confidential.’


source: dailymail