Bad weather in UK forces Gulf to cancel flights

Gulf carriers and other airlines operating between the UAE and the UK cancelled or delayed flights to and from Britain yesterday as bitterly cold weather gripped much of Europe. And the situation could worsen as the British weather authorities issued severe weather alerts for the next few days, forecasting heavy snowfall. Emirates cancelled four flights yesterday between Dubai and London Heathrow, and Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways cancelled two flights each. British Airways also cancelled two flights yesterday from London Heathrow to Dubai — BA0105 (20:35) and BA0109 (21:40), according to its website. BA's website also showed two UK-bound flights from Dubai as "cancelled" for today — BA0108 (10:05) and BA0104 (15:40). Virgin Atlantic, meanwhile, did not cancel any flights but experienced delays, according to the carrier's spokesperson. Related Links "Due to adverse weather conditions in London, our flight arriving this morning [Sunday] was delayed departing London Heathrow last night [Saturday]. We are actively monitoring conditions to enable us to respond and update our customers accordingly," the carried said in a statement to Gulf News. Carriers took the step following a directive by airport authorities in Britain imposing a cut in the number of flights for all airlines touching Heathrow. The authorities said that they issued the order to minimise disruption to passengers and operations at Heathrow in the wake of expected adverse weather conditions. Emirates said yesterday on its website that its flights to and from London Heathrow were disrupted. "Flights EK29 and EK05 — scheduled to depart Dubai at 09:40 and 16:30 respectively — and the return flights EK30 and EK06, due to depart London Heathrow at 16:35 and 22:00 on the same day, have been cancelled," it stated. ‘Alternative flights' Etihad Airways said its flights, EY11 (02:40) from Abu Dhabi to London and the return flight EY12 (09:15) from London to Abu Dhabi were cancelled yesterday. "Arrangements were made to assist all affected passengers. They were advised of alternative flights and, where necessary, overnight accommodation was provided in Abu Dhabi," an Etihad spokesperson told Gulf News in a statement. The cancelled Qatar Airways flights included flight QR001 from Doha to London Heathrow and QR002 from Heathrow to Doha. British Airways increased the number of staff to help customers, according to a statement issued by the carrier.