[Carrera RSR]

Its currently snowing with 3 feet of snow already on the ground, Bing Crosby is singing Silent Night, I am sat in front of an open fire and eating Swedish Meatballs and mash. How idyllic can Christmas get !!!!




However I am stuck in Stockholm as my BA flight is cancelled, BA don't give a sh1t, they can't offer another flight for 3 days and no guarantee that will run pre Christmas. I've driven two hours around Stockholm to another airport, several inches of compacted snow on the ground, no issues as there was winter tyres on the car. Lets hope that the flying sh1te that's more commonly known as RyanAir can get me back to Stansted at 7am in the morning, however my car is in Heathrow, or my Christmas will be less than idyllic!!

[Tunna_uk]

Hope you get home ! GOOD LUCK !

[TMP]

Jeezo....good luck!

C4news chewed up the heathrow CEO for bad prep and delays when Gatwick are ok (so may not be all BAs fault)

Eurostar is fecked as well. They actually asked all the passengers if they really didnt need to travel please ask for a refund...hmm 4 days before Xmas i wonder how many will do that

[Carrera RSR]

Originally Posted by TMP

Jeezo....good luck!

C4news chewed up the heathrow CEO for bad prep and delays when Gatwick are ok (so may not be all BAs fault)

Eurostar is fecked as well. They actually asked all the passengers if they really didnt need to travel please ask for a refund...hmm 4 days before Xmas i wonder how many will do that

Stockholm is under 3 feet plus of snow and their roads and airports are open!!

BAA are at fault for failing to keep runways open, only one open at Heathrow.

BA are at fault for not giving a shite. The plane was scheduled all day despite many others having been cancelled, I had already checked in online. Within two hours of departure they cancelled, their phone lines closed 15 minutes later at 6pm. Airport staff were saying to people to go home, yes I'd like to fuck wits!!

[mjh93sa]

Not good. Best of luck getting home.

[Carrera RSR]

Interesting read whilst waiting until 7am for my next flight opportunity

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12039443

''There are of course airports that claim to tackle snow and ice with ease. Stockholm-Arlanda, the biggest airport in Sweden, currently only has severe delays involving flights to Paris, London and Frankfurt and that is because of problems at those airports.

In fact, in the five decades since Stockholm-Arlanda opened, it has never closed because of snow''

Shame I had to move to Stockholm-Skavsta to try a Ryanair flight tomorrow. Its still snowing here!!

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by Carrera RSR

Interesting read whilst waiting until 7am for my next flight opportunity

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12039443

''There are of course airports that claim to tackle snow and ice with ease. Stockholm-Arlanda, the biggest airport in Sweden, currently only has severe delays involving flights to Paris, London and Frankfurt and that is because of problems at those airports.

In fact, in the five decades since Stockholm-Arlanda opened, it has never closed because of snow''

Shame I had to move to Stockholm-Skavsta to try a Ryanair flight tomorrow. Its still snowing here!!

If it's that good why don't you stay there?
You could then slag off the UK from a distance without having to endure the inconvenience of living here.
British airports are not the only ones affected by the weather.

[Dave_3]

Heathrow is arsed at the mo'.

Flew in on Monday morning with BA on time from Zurich thinking "this looks promising", but no internal flights at all from Heathrow. Re-booked for Tuesday morning with friendly staff, and offered a hotel.

But popped in to see a mate in Richmond, been playing in the snow and on the Wii with the kids, then a bit of playstation, home grub and beers in the evening, so can't grumble.

Got an SMS around 11pm (Also an e-mail), rescheduled flight for tomorrow cancelled. So well informed.

More PS and beers .... Que sera, sera.

1/2 way there.

D.

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by Jon D

If it's that good why don't you stay there?
You could then slag off the UK from a distance without having to endure the inconvenience of living here.
British airports are not the only ones affected by the weather.

Bit harsh don't you think.

Your right it's not just the UK airports that are affected, but would you just shrug your shoulders and accept the fact that you might not get back to your family in time for what is arguably the most important holiday of the year.

Watching the news last night Heathrow, one of the most important and busiest airports in the world resembled something you would expect to see in a third world country, it's makes the UK a laughing stock.

Every time this happens, heavy snow etc we get the same lame excuses spouted by the incompetents that run this country.Go back 3/4 weeks the news covered how local authorities had had the foresight to stockpile grit/salt for the roads,I saw the first grit lorry in my area yesterday, bar the private contracted one I saw on Sunday in Tesco!

The UK is *ucked in so many ways it gets quite depressing in honesty.

Best of luck in your travels Steve

Jon D - Bah humbug

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Jon D

If it's that good why don't you stay there?
You could then slag off the UK from a distance without having to endure the inconvenience of living here.
British airports are not the only ones affected by the weather.

I don't think this is an 'anti UK' position. Weather disruption is understandable and the issue is not the snow, but the record breaking low temperatures.

Having said that, the management of our airports right now is clearly incompetent. I know several people who have been waiting for days to fly, with little real idea of what is going on.

Heathrow operates flat out all the time, so if anything goes wrong it has a big impact. That is not in the best interests of the passengers, but instead is a cynical strategy by BAA to get the most money possible out of an asset with a fixed productivity. They would rather get an extra 2% revenue and risk disrupting the lives of millions of people than allow some flexibility in their scheduling to make sure they keep their promises. They can do this because they have a monopoly.

The airports do not have the right equipment, because they don't want it sitting idle 'just in case'. They are not communicating with the airlines and no-one has any idea what the plan is.

A plane full of passengers sat on the tarmac at Heathrow on Sunday for 5 hours because no-one could be bothered to find a way to get them off. Then again yesterday a plane departing from Birmingham sat for 8 hours because the airline and the airport could not clear it to fly or find a way to get it back to the terminal. No-one gave a damn about the passengers. They found a way to get paramedics to treat passengers who were having panic attacks, but told everyone that they would be arrested if they tried to get off the plane.

Not our finest hour.

Carrera RSR - I hope you get home soon. You seem to be taking this in good humour and maintaining a remarkably positive attitude, which is very much to your credit.

[Carrera RSR]

Good news, the effort in making all my own arrangements to book another flight, travel two hours across a frozen Sweden to Skavsta resulted in a one hour delay in departing Stockholm this morning due to the extra de icing required due to an extra 5cms of snow landing last night. BA offered fuck all except the suggestion of don't rebook a flight back to Heathrow pre Christmas, no food, no accommodation, squat!

On the radio 2 news earlier it had a spokesperson from BAA Heathrow stating that they were struggling still to clear the snow from the aircraft stands that fell on Saturday!! FFS, this morning all the aircraft in Skavsta were sitting on compacted snow of approx 3-5cms deep. The surrounding airport had knee to waist deep snow away from the footpaths and roads. These still had 3-5cms of compacted snow. Buses, taxis, private cars and people were still getting around with no problem. Planes still taking off and landing. Stockholm-Arlanda although less busy than Heathrow has not lost a DAY to snow in 50 years. Calgary Canada have lost only 3 days due to snow in its history. Munich has de icers on stands and at the end of the runways prior to take off. Germany imposed a law a few weeks ago that ALL cars must have winter tyres to be legal in all areas not just those more prone to snow.

I am not UK bashing Jon D. So I do take offence to your comments, but will let it ride as it tis the season to be jolly. However I'm not entirely jolly due to incompetent management and wasteful resources in the UK. BAA a non UK company is fleecing us and delivering shite service.

[rogerxp]

It staggers me that they still can't get planes off the tarmac after what must now be 36 hours of no snow - you kind of have 'some' sympathy for them UNTIL you hear the interviews of the head people at the airport - couldn't run a fucking bath - how do they get into these positions. Where's the repercussions - fucking nowhere. Ridiculous.

Good luck getting back mate but doesn't look good does it. Shame Carlos hasn't got the DXB anymore otherwise we could've sent it over to get you.

[Carrera RSR]

Originally Posted by rogerxp

Good luck getting back mate but doesn't look good does it. Shame Carlos hasn't got the DXB anymore otherwise we could've sent it over to get you.

I'm home Rog because I took control of my destination, not someone who doesn't really care in some call centre. I spoke to some people last night who allowed BA to rebook flights for the following day and have been continually cancelled since Saturday. No one at BAsuggested a two hour hike to another Stockholm airport, to another airline, to another UK airport. They may not like losing the passengers to Ryanair but at least they were flying with spare seats to book. This mornings plane was not full. Yet they cancelled a 767 from Arlanda last night and all flights today.

BAA and BA couldn't organise an orgy in Playboy Mansion

[xenon]

Glad you got home. Not just LHR though, my wife was stuck in Frankfurt for a day and a half and is now stuck in Munich.

[Carrera RSR]

Originally Posted by xenon

Glad you got home. Not just LHR though, my wife was stuck in Frankfurt for a day and a half and is now stuck in Munich.

Sorry to hear that. I heard Frankfurt had some issues but not Munich!

If I were in Munich I'd get a hire car and drive to a ferry in Rotterdam or similar.

Its way harder to drive from Stockholm!

[xenon]

She is booked on a flight to BHX tonight, it's scheduled so fingers crossed.

[Jon D]

Originally Posted by Hotcoupe

Bit harsh don't you think.

Your right it's not just the UK airports that are affected, but would you just shrug your shoulders and accept the fact that you might not get back to your family in time for what is arguably the most important holiday of the year.
The UK is *ucked in so many ways it gets quite depressing in honesty.
Best of luck in your travels Steve

Jon D - Bah humbug

Originally Posted by Carrera RSR

I am not UK bashing Jon D. So I do take offence to your comments, but will let it ride as it tis the season to be jolly. However I'm not entirely jolly due to incompetent management and wasteful resources in the UK. BAA a non UK company is fleecing us and delivering shite service.

Okay, mea culpa - to a degree.
I just get a bit tired of all the negative comments about the UK at this or any other time of year - it's either too cold, wet, dry or hot. Why is it that we're so quick to condemn but so slow to commend - a rhetorical question that requires no answer.
I spent most of my working life overseas and I'm glad for having had the comparison because I soon realised that the UK's a pretty fine country. I regularly found myself decrying our 'whingeing Brit' epithet by attempting to explain that we're not all a bunch of moaners, but I knew I was pushing water uphill.
The British are the UK's most vociferous detractors, but we're still well regarded by many nationalities, as evidenced by the fact that half the world and his uncle wants to come and live here!
Of course, some of our airports and railway stations must have been bloody awful over the past few days and I'm sorry if my remarks were perceived as being dismissive, but I'd rather be in a snowbound Heathrow than a steamy and very dangerous Lagos any time.
Hope you get home in time for Christmas.

[briers]

Hope you get home ok! A mate had issues getting back but they have started opening the flights again. He's back now.

My idyllic Christmas has now begun. I've bought in the festive food, plenty of crap to eat, tree lit up, lights off, wood stove on, finished at work, as is the mrs so she's happy and not complaining. Love this time of the year. Oh and my little girl has decided that Home Alone is now her fav film so it's been on for 4 consecutive nights now. No complaints, used to be one of my fav's when i was about 7 but she's 2 and a half!