Gatwick Airport closed AGAIN

[Icy Gull]

Must say I don't understand how, knowing there was going to be more snow overnight, and seeing that it's not snowed that heavily and it's already thawing, why is it that we are incapable of keeping our airports open when other places throughout the world don't have the same problem?

Is it just incompetence or is there a reasonable explanation that even if forewarned we can't take measures to keep runways open apart from during heavy snow?

 

[Acker79]

I think the equipment and vehicles needed to deal with these weather conditions are too expensive when considering how rare the conditions are, whereas places like Finland or Canada have these conditions regularly if not permanently, so it makes financial sense to buy the massive road plows etc. there.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

The issue is the runway and taxiways, they can treat them in advance but if it starts flumping it down like it was all of last night the snow will still settle. Which it did. They were diverting inbound flights from about 5am onwards. Which in fairness happens at airports everywhere....i was talking to some passengers earlier in the week whose flights to Geneva and Kiev were cancelled due to snow at that end. So it does happen in more regularly snowy countries too.

That said, no doubt Gatwick will look like a refugee
camp again by the time I get to work later...

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I think the equipment and vehicles needed to deal with these weather conditions are too expensive when considering how rare the conditions are, whereas places like Finland or Canada have these conditions regularly if not permanently, so it makes financial sense to buy the massive road plows etc. there.

Gatwick does have it's own snow ploughs by the way, they were hard at work earlier.

 

[Acker79]

Gatwick does have it's own snow ploughs by the way, they were hard at work earlier.

I was speaking in a more general sense, but did not know that.

When flying back from finland on sunday I had a 1.5 hour delay. It was around 10pm when an announcement came over that a flight from moscow, which was due in 6 hours previous was just leaving moscow.

 

[Horsham Gull]

Flights suspended at Gatwick Airport until 16.00

Updated at 12.30: Following continued snowfall the runway at Gatwick Airport is currently closed for snow clearance and is expected to remain closed until 16.00 when we anticipate limited re-opening for departing flights only.

There are significant delays and cancellations. Passengers are advised to contact their airline for the latest flight information.

We regret the disruption to our passengers' travel plans but the safety of aircraft and passengers is our top priority.

 

[beorhthelm]

...why is it that we are incapable of keeping our airports open when other places throughout the world don't have the same problem?

Is it just incompetence or

is it that you have to pretty bloody sure its cleared properly on a runway?

other countries do have the same problem, as mentioned above re findland and Moscow, and Madrid was closed to snow yesturday. north american airport routinly close due to snow for hours at a time, its a pretty hard thing to clear and keep clear if its still coming down.

 

[skr80]

There is also the problem of clearing the snow from the gates where the planes dock - this has also caused problems.

 

[VeronaSeagull]

The main reason for the de-icer not being as good at Gatwick is that they use an organic de-icer because Gatwick sits in the source valley for the River Mole and as such they decided not to use chemical de-icers which could poison the river. Naturally the natural de-icers are not quite as effective as their chemical brothers....hence why Gatwick has more problems than Heathrow with ice. Of course Heathrow has two runways as well which means it's easier to keep it open with one open whilst the other is de-iced and vice versa!

The fun of airport operations.....it's been an entertaining few weeks

 

[Icy Gull]

The main reason for the de-icer not being as good at Gatwick is that they use an organic de-icer because Gatwick sits in the source valley for the River Mole and as such they decided not to use chemical de-icers which could poison the river. Naturally the natural de-icers are not quite as effective as their chemical brothers....hence why Gatwick has more problems than Heathrow with ice. Of course Heathrow has two runways as well which means it's easier to keep it open with one open whilst the other is de-iced and vice versa!

The fun of airport operations.....it's been an entertaining few weeks

If that is true and not a rather bizarre wind up, it goes a long way to explaining the regular closures during snow and ice. I bet Moscow and Finnish airports had a f*** sight more snow than Gatwick before they closed the runways and Madrid, well it's in Spain so they are less used to snow than us so no suprise they closed.

 

[VeronaSeagull]

Of course in December 2008 it didn't help when some muppet sprayed water rather than de-icer onto the runway on a wednesday evening and then was surprised that the runway was basically a sheet of ice the next morning (only been -1 overnight).....! Easyjet were not happy bunnies that day.....! Be interesting to see if the new owners of Gatwick will keep the policy of using organic de-icer as it was a BAA choice rather then enforced

 

[Mr Blobby]

When I flew to Moscow (from Brussels) a couple of years ago the plane was 4 hours late because of snow! So even places that get snow pretty often struggle!

 

[NS Herald]

For Gatwick to be still Snowclosed is an absolute joke.

25 years ago it was better able to cope with such weather amd now it is the victim of complete lack of investment and pathetic management.

From the time you pull up in your car at the South Terminal to coming back through arrivals - it is now worse than some third world airports.

The BAA should be held accountable as they deliberately under invested in the airport allowing money to go on the Jewel in the Crown Heathrow knowing full well they would lose control of LGW.

For such a pathetic amount of snow which cleared hours ago is a dreadful reflection on the state of affairs at a once very good airport

 

[Lyndhurst 14]

For Gatwick to be still Snowclosed is an absolute joke.

The BAA should be held accountable as they deliberately under invested in the airport allowing money to go on the Jewel in the Crown Heathrow knowing full well they would lose control of LGW.

For such a pathetic amount of snow which cleared hours ago is a dreadful reflection on the state of affairs at a once very good airport

I don’t know about Airport operations but I worked for BAA Projects at Gatwick and it was a shambles with projects generally going over budget and finishing late so not really surprised at the airport closures. They always seemed able to hide behind ‘safety and security’ and ‘green issues’ especially after 9/11. It always made me laugh when BAA used to bang on about ‘centres of excellence’ when they couldn’t get the basics right.

I agree it was a good airport when it was run by folks who knew what they were doing and had some common sense – not the new breed of team leaders who aint got a clue.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

That said, would you prefer your pilot to divert or delay your inbound plane, or hear him say "f*** it, it's only a bit of snow, ladies & gentlemen, I'm going for it so say your prayers and strap yourselves in for the ride!"?

 

[Jesus Gul]

better be open a week Friday when I fly in for the Villa game

 

[Bluejuice]

In the two years I worked in engineering for BAA it didn't snow once so I guess they just don't really think too much about it

 

[NS Herald]

That said, would you prefer your pilot to divert or delay your inbound plane, or hear him say "f*** it, it's only a bit of snow, ladies & gentlemen, I'm going for it so say your prayers and strap yourselves in for the ride!"?

I know exactly what effect snow has on the performance of an aircraft landing or taxying. What I am saying is that Gatwick is now an embarrassment in the world of aviation for being so badly affected by such little snow.

A well managed and resourced airport would not have closed for this weather or only for a very short time. This is a joke unless you happen to be a passenger screwed up for which it is a nightmare.

The happiest people at Gatwick are the easyJet management who can merrily cancel flights all day long, keep the money and save on operating costs.

 

[Icy Gull]

That said, would you prefer your pilot to divert or delay your inbound plane, or hear him say "f*** it, it's only a bit of snow, ladies & gentlemen, I'm going for it so say your prayers and strap yourselves in for the ride!"?

I'd prefer the airport sorted themselves out rather than have to go along with the "OOOHH it's a bit dangerous, we'll shut the airport" cop out (no pun intended) line that you seem happy to accept

 

[Chicken Run]

Of course in December 2008 it didn't help when some muppet sprayed water rather than de-icer onto the runway on a wednesday evening and then was surprised that the runway was basically a sheet of ice the next morning (only been -1 overnight).....! Easyjet were not happy bunnies that day.....! Be interesting to see if the new owners of Gatwick will keep the policy of using organic de-icer as it was a BAA choice rather then enforced

Yes I know all about that incedent as on the previous day after an eight hour delay in Luxor our Thomas Cook 757 took off for home at 1am local time with an eta of around 4am into LGW on that day, we were the first/last plane in before they closed the runway!!