Luton Airport UK snow flight info cancellations
Luton Airport lights 18/12/09 : BA may have cancelled their strike and millions will now be flying over the festive peroid, others are stranded as Flyglobespan go into bankruptcy BUT watch out for the snow reports. Friday 18th December heavy snow is forecasted for the UK and you may experience what happened to me this february read below. From experience i would advise you to proceed to your flight in that no cancelllations have been announced just yet. Cancellations, if any, will only be announced in the morning, but by then its too late to know. If in doubt contact your travel agent, airline compan. The snow has fallen over night in the EAst and SE of the country. Airports Gatwick:flights suspended( 1 runway closed) City:open with delays Stanstead:open (Stanstead express running 1 hour late) Heathrow:open York:delays Luton: 7am open flights suspended Edinburgh:delays
Expect delays as of the knock on effect of some airports are closed
Luton Airport this morning Thursday 5th February 2009 : 05/02/09 has been hit by bad weather and heavy snow over night. Arrivals and departures are been cancelled, rescheduled, delayed and there is mayhem. I am sat here in the airport bringing you a live update. So if you can’t get through to your airline or relatives then follow here to find out the latest arrivals, departures, cancellations and other info about Luton airport bad weather……
(Flight information follows towards the bottom of this description about Luton airport this morning.)
It all started early this morning at about 3am when the snow started to fall. I was due to get a flight from Luton airport to Trapani in Sicily to meet some clients viewing italian villas near SCOPELLO on the sicilian seaside, where apparently the sun is shining and its a gorgeous day.
Well its a different story here in the UK. I was on an overnight bus coming in from the north of England to Luton (its tough at the top ; executive credit crunch travel), leaving Birmingham at 3am the snow started to fall. We made good ground until outside Milton Keynes. The snow had started to settle, the gritters were just starting to head out for the rush hour. The first lorries had jack knifed and the northern roads were coming to a grinding halt. We were running 30 minutes behind schedule. Due into Luton airport 5:15am my flight was scheduled to leave at 6:30am. I had already done the Ryanair on line checkin so i thought i had enough time. 5:40 and we approach Luton airport and thats were the trouble started. Traffice jams into the airport, the road had not been gritted nor cleared by the snow ploughs. The traffice was slowy moving 5:55am. I started to panic thinking i would miss my plane. A quick check on the internet to see for any information….non. Luton airport was due to update its “real time” information at 7am. Ryanair website latest update made reference to cancellations on Tuesday !!! CArs started to pull up on the side of the road and travellers abandoned their cars and started walking. The traffic had come to a grinding halt. People slipping and falling in the snow. Cars returning from the early drop offs blocked coming out of the airport. People with spades digging out cars, people everywhere, kids screaming as mums dragged them up the road. Everyone wanted to get to the airport but it was still 2 miles away. Courageously they set off on the walk overtaking the cars, the roads covered in snow, icy patches, some slush, luggage on shoulders and trolleys jammed with snow. If only i could post up some photos.
Radio Luton announced that Luton airport runways were closed and no planes were landing nor departing, so i chilled out and relaxed on the bus. But then a phone call from my secretary that the flights had not been cancelled but rescheduled to all starting from 8:30 so then i decided to join others and got off the bus (kindly the driver got out my luggage) and off i was at 7:15am racing to get to the airport. Slipping and sliding, wet shoes and slowy breaking into a sweat speed walking up the road to Luton airport. Overtaking cars jammed, lorries blocked, police redirecting traffic, no traffic allowed into the airport, no wonder there was a massive traffice jam !!. There was a happy spirit on the road as fellow travellers made their way to the airport.
Finally round a corner at the top of the hill the departures lounge glowed in the distance. We were nearly there. Finally by 7:55 i entered the departures lounge to find true some flights had been rescheduled but mine no…CANCELLED.
Queues 3 hours long people trying to rebook flights. Luckily i have my laptop so i rebooked for Saturday.
If you are travelling or picking people up from Luton airport here is the latest information.
Arrivals :
No airplanes have landed. Don’t panic if you are struggling to get to the airport to pick up loved ones. They aren’t here !!
There is a massive tail back trying to get into the airport as access is blocked by the snow. Don’t abondan your cars. Be patient. Remember when you will be able to get through planes will start landing…so you should arrive in time to pick up friends.
Departures :
If you are trying to get to the airport there are massive traffic jams. These start when coming off the motoray. If you are a passenger who is travelling i would advise you to walk from the motorway if you come across the traffic jam (they are working to clear blocks) Its 3 miles from the motorway. Good luck.
If you need to get your car to Luton airport then you may struggle. Allow at least 2 hours to get through the traffic jam as at 11am. !!!
Security and boarding is currently closed, so noone is leaving.
AS at 11am they have started boarding flights regulary !!
No flights have left Luton airport this morning. The runway is still covered in snow….let me update flight info..come back in a minute.
OK
Travel Update 09.15
Due to weather conditions at London Luton Airport this morning, flights are subject to delay and cancellation. Check – in is currently suspended and flights are not anticipated to resume until 10.30. A further update will be posted on this website at 10.00. Anyone travelling to the airport should check public transport and road conditions.
The following flights have been cancelled
Cancellations:
Marrakech FR3506
Dublin FR331
Trapani FR3468
Biarritz FR3886
Rotterdam HV5096
Gdansk W6302
Poznan W6502
Budapest W6202
Katowice W6102
Arrecife ZB074
Malaga ZB012
ALicante ZB834 14:40
RESCHEDULED FLIGHTS ARE:
8:40 EZY015 Edinburgh Departure Estimated at 11:15
9:00 TOM555 NOW Boarding !!!
9:50 RE502 Departure Estimated at 11:15
OTHER FLIGHTS:
If your flight is not mentioned above then there is no update and you should assume it is running on time !!!
Airline Contact Numbers
Aer Arann – 0870 876 76 76
easyJet – 0905 821 0905
Flybe + 44 (0)1392 268529
Monarch +44 (0) 8700 405 040
Ryanair +44 (0) 8712 460 000
Claim a refund or change the flight free at
http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/notices.php?notice=gops&code=090205-snow_at_UK-GB
Sky Europe + 42 12 4850 4850
Thomson Airways +44 (0) 870 607 6757
transavia.com +44 (0) 906 6800065
Wizz Air + 48 22 351 9499
Dear life saver, brilliant commentry on Luton airport, enjoyed every snowflake of discomfort. The trouble is we have to travel like you did to Luton airport 07/02/2009 very early morning flight. Basicaly, if the shuttle bus is not working then we wont be travelling on the skitzo road trip to the airport as your report fully explains the trormours in trying to do so. Great story, hope ours fair better but I wont hold my breath. Watch this space, I could be writing your next story whilst stuck at Luton/Best wishes/Brian
Dear life saver, brilliant commentry on Luton airport, enjoyed every snowflake of discomfort. The trouble is we have to travel like you did to Luton airport 07/02/2009 very early morning flight. Basicaly, if the shuttle bus is not working then we wont be travelling on the skitzo road trip to the airport as your report fully explains the traumors in trying to do so. Great story, hope ours fair better but I wont hold my breath. Watch this space, I could be writing your next story whilst stuck at Luton/Best wishes/Brian
Brian, see you in Luton airport early tomorrow morning. I’m already here !!! Now i know how Tom Hanks felt in the Terminal. SOmeone has just started playing the guitar, people sprawled out sleeping, people drinking, playing cards. In a sad kind of way its reassuring that society gets on in these emergencies. If you fancy a coffee i’m the blogger plugged into the socket in the far left hand corner of the arrivals lounge. Ciao
PS BRian. All transport is fully functioning. So your journey here shouldn’t be too bad. Lets hope it doesn’t freeze over night. Some late flights have been cancelled, but morning flights are looking good.
Everyone in the lounge just clapped the guitar man !!! Strange but nice.
Your main concern is getting to Luton Airport at the moment. There are roadworks on the M1 and as you come off heading for the airport. This affects at least one of the off airport car parks too. Allow plenty of time for your journey.
In January this year, my flight on Easy Jet from Luton had got cancelled and had to wait for my next flight schedule and also had to extend my Car parking in Luton Airport Parking http://www.airportcarparkz.com by another day.