Govt says it knew Heathrow was ill-prepared for heavy snow

News at Gatwick 27/12/2010

Gatwick flights are getting back to normal : December 2010 : Cardiff Airport publishes list of weird baggage items

The aviation minister has admitted the government knew Heathrow was unprepared for winter weather.

The UK aviation minister, Theresa Villiers, has said the government was aware that Heathrow had made inadequate preparations to handle the winter weather. She made the admission while confirming that new laws could be brought in to fine airports whose failure to prepare properly causes travel disruption.

Ms Villiers said the transport secretary, Philip Hammond had talked to BAA earlier in the year about Heathrow airport’s plans for dealing with severe weather. Spanish-owned BAA, which owns Heathrow, failed to invest in ensuring the airport had enough equipment or manpower to deal with heavy snows.

The British government is now pushing to bring in new laws that would give the country’s aviation regulator the authority to fine airport owners who fail to ensure basic levels of service for passengers. Just over a week ago, six inches of snow left Heathrow airport closed, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded in the run-up to Christmas.

It has been revealed that Heathrow spend only £500,000 this year on snow clearing equipment. This left the airport with just 10 snow ploughs. Heathrow is more than twice the size of Gatwick, which had 14 snow ploughs.

Gatwick flights are getting back to normal : December 2010 : Cardiff Airport publishes list of weird baggage items

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