Snow causes chaos at Heathrow as British Airways flights are diverted 300 miles away to Newcastle 

Passengers wait for their delayed and cancelled flights at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 
Passengers wait for their delayed and cancelled flights at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5  Credit: Tolga Akmen /LNP

Snow caused chaos for air passengers on Sunday, with flights diverted, delayed and cancelled at Heathrow.

While roads were closed and power supplies affected around the country, the disruption at Britain's main airport was blamed on planes having to be de-iced before take-off, resulting in a lack of 'parking space' for incoming flights. 

At the west London airport, passengers complained of being trapped on a British Airways plane on the ground for more than four hours with no information from the airline.

Four British Airways flights headed for Heathrow had to be diverted to Newcastle, 300 miles away. The deicing process is believed to have affected both outgoing and incoming flights, with planes not able to land because other aircraft were still in the stands. 

British Airways was inundated with messages from unhappy customers on social media, who complained of long waits on the tarmac and no response on their customer service phone line. 

The airline apologised on Twitter for the "problems and inconvenience". A spokesman for BA said: "Safety is always our priority, especially when dealing with these very challenging weather conditions. At times when we haven’t been able to operate flights into Heathrow as planned, we have been looking after customers, providing refreshments and hotel accommodation."

A spokesman for Heathrow airport said it remained open on Sunday, but added: "However we regret that weather across the UK is resulting in some passengers experiencing disruption to their travel arrangements.

"Airlines are responsible for ensuring their flights are fully de-iced before they are operated and this is resulting in some delays and cancellations.

"The safety and comfort of our passengers is always our first priority and we are working closely with our airlines to ensure affected passengers are looked after.

"Passengers should continue to check the status of their flight with their airline before coming to the airport.

"We apologise to those affected by today's weather."

At Luton Airport, warnings of flight delays and cancellations were issued on Sunday morning.

All flights were suspended temporarily at the airport which re-opened to departing flights only at 11.30am. Passengers were advised to contact their airlines directly before flying and leave extra time to reach the airport.

At Birmingham Airport, flights were suspended temporarily on Sunday morning after heavy snowfall closed the runway. Passengers were advised to check birminghamairport.co.uk for updates or contact their airline for further information.

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