Why wasn't Gatwick disrupted by the snow?
 

Heaghrow ground to a halt but Gatwick seemed ok. Is this because it didn't get as much snow or deals with it better?

I'm flying from Gatwick next week and am really worried about tge further snow coming...

i live/work near gatwick. girlfriend works at airport. we had 2 1/2" snow here, main roads were pretty clear as no hard freeze overnight. they do clear the snow off the airfield pretty sharply. better than heathrow !

Thanks. Is that because Gatwick has better snow clearing equipment?

Always an over reaction here in the UK:confused: They had 17 feet (5 metres) of snow in Austria recently:eek: and traffic was moving again within a couple of days. Kids went to school as normal etc. I know they are better equipped over there but they just get on with it.

We had EXACTLY the same thread last year - and about two days after it was posted Gatwick was shut under 15cms of snow!!!

i remember that. last winter though you couldnt get out of the village here for 2 days here unless you had 4 wheel drive. i managed :D

mmm, this could be a problem for me too

taking the familly Skiing to Italy on Saturday from Stansted

and the rumour is that it will snow again on Friday

Save your money hodgy and go skiing in Essex

remind me what the food is like in Essex!!;)

Heathrow hardly ground to a halt :lol1:, (and I was one of those slaughtering BAA last winter)

They took the decision the day before to cancel a 3rd of flights, of which the majority were domestic or short haul most intercontinental flights were unaffected, it was nothing like the sham of last winter.

Gatwick has just spent a fortune on new snow clearing vehicles, a mate of mine is airfield ops at Gatwick.

If I send you my flight details can you ask your mate to make sure my flight gets away on time?:)

I think he is working at Stansted that day

No point him being there as Stanstead will be closed.

I don't think it's anything to do with snow clearing equipment. Gatwick is not running at 100% capacity.

Just like bad weather in cars, planes can't fly as close to each other when the weather or visabilty is poor. Therefore less planes can land per minute. This has a knock on effect.

Were also ( hopefully) leaving form Gatwick next Thursday for S.A. via Dubia

What is the scenario if you flight is cancelled ?

find a pair of slippers and a cup of tea :lol1:

Isnt Heathrow a lot larger than Gatwick? I thought Gatwick only has a single runway in use for starters.

Yes it could just be that Gatwick is running with far more slack in the system Also as mentioned they invested heavily in snow clearing machines after 2010.

Dpb, I'll be there on Thursday as well. If all the flights are cancelled I'll see you in the bar for a beer!

lol yes indeed . i guess we have about 8 hrs slack before our connection in Dubia - girlfriend will be really pissed off if we miss that

Oh dear.....

:D

It's not funny mate, we've been looking forward to this holiday for ages:cry:

I know it isn't funny really.... but be honest - you'd have a chuckle at that yourself ;)

Davyboy is spot on.

Go to Gatwick and at some times of the day you wonder where the aircraft are. This gives them time to clear snow.

Heathrow isn't like that. Two runways, one movement every 90 secsonds on each of them.
You can't clear the airfield unless you cancel flights.

Davyboy is spot on.

Go to Gatwick and at some times of the day you wonder where the aircraft are. This gives them time to clear snow.

Heathrow isn't like that. Two runways, one movement every 90 secsonds on each of them.
You can't clear the airfield unless you cancel flights.

True, if it was you I'd be p9ssing my pants;)

Thanks FM.

So it's actually better in some ways to be flying from Gatwick rather than Heathrow? ie Gatwick flights will be unaffected by levels of snowfall that will see Heathrow flights cancelled?


Thanks