Govt knew Heathrow had not prepared for heavy snow

News at Heathrow 27/12/2010

European aviation hit by snow and ice : 2010 : Heathrow could have heated runways for under £5mn

Britain’s aviation minister admitted the government knew Heathrow had not prepared for winter.

The UK’s aviation minister, Theresa Villiers, says the government knew that Heathrow had not made adequate preparations for handling heavy winter weather. Ms Villiers made the admission as she was confirming that new legislation could be implemented to punish airports whose failure to make proper preparations causes travel disruption.

She said transport secretary Philip Hammond had spoken to Heathrow owners BAA earlier in the year on their plans for handling severe weather. BAA, which is Spanish-owned, did not invest enough to make sure the airport had sufficient equipment or manpower to handle heavy snow falls.

The UK government is now pressing to draft new laws giving Britain’s aviation regulator the power to levy finds on airport owners who do not ensure passengers get basic levels of service. It was a little more than a week ago that six inches of snow fell at Heathrow airport, shutting it and leaving hundreds of thousands of travellers stranded in the days before Christmas.

It has also been revealed that Heathrow airport this year spend only £500,000 on acquiring snow clearing equipment. This underinvestment left Heathrow with just 10 snow ploughs. The airport is more than double the size of Gatwick, where 14 snow ploughs were available.

European aviation hit by snow and ice : 2010 : Heathrow could have heated runways for under £5mn

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