Europe snow continues to hit Dubai flights

The UAE carriers, Emirates airline and Etihad Airways, flew to their European destinations on Saturday but British Airways (BA) cancelled their flights from London Heathrow and Gatwick between 1000hrs and 1700hrsdue to the heavy snowfall that hit southeast of England on Saturday, the operators told Khaleej Times.

Two Lufthansa flights from the UAE to Germany were delayed.

Etihad spokesperson Holly Williams said the airline did not cancel flights but two minor delays were reported for EY012 London-Abu Dhabi and EY042 Dublin-Abu Dhabi on Saturday morning due to de-icing requirements. “However, at this stage all other flights are operating as scheduled. Etihad Airways has not cancelled flights due to the severe weather that is currently affecting western Europe. Etihad continues to monitor the situation closely.”

“Late Saturday, London Gatwick and Heathrow airports have closed due to extreme weather conditions. Emirates customers due to travel to or from the UK are advised to check the status of their flight on www.emirates.com for possible changes or delays, before departing for the airport. Flight information will be updated on the website every five minutes,” an Emirates spokesperson said. “Customers are advised to check the status of their flight on emirates.com for possible changes or delays. Flight information will be updated on the website every five minutes.”

A BA spokesperson said British Airways cancelled all flights departing from London Heathrow and all European and Domestic flights due to depart from Gatwick between 1000 and 1700 on Saturday. “The southeast of England has been hit by severe weather from Saturday morning. There has been significant snowfall at both Heathrow and Gatwick and both airports are currently shut.”

“We have taken this decision to try to give our customers as much notice as possible. Customers due to travel between these times should not travel to the airport. We are extremely sorry that customers may be inconvenienced. Our staff are doing everything they can to help,” the spokesperson added.

BA advised its customers to check on ba.com for the very latest information about their specific flight. “If their flight has been cancelled, they can either chose to re-book on an alternative flight or they can claim a full refund,” a spokesperson said.

Lufthansa operated all their long haul flights, however, some of them with significant delays. “Our flights to the UAE departed largely on-time or with minor weather related delays,” Christoph Mieir, Lufthansa spokesperson for Africa and Middle East, said.

The Lufthansa flights affected were LH639 Dubai-Munich which departed after a delay of 57 minutes and LH618 Frankfurt-Abu Dhabi, after a delay of 30 minutes.

Other flights from the UAE to Germany — Dubai-Frankfurt LH631 and Abu Dhabi-Frankfurt LH619, departed on time. Frankfurt-Dubai LH630 and Munich-Dubai LH638, departed as planned.