Over 10,000 airline passengers have faced disrupted schedules due to storms sweeping across north-west Europe.
The Dutch airline KLM cancelled dozens of flights serving its Amsterdam hub which also included morning services to and from 12 UK airports: Aberdeen, Glasgow, Durham Tees Valley, Leeds-Bradford, Manchester, Norwich, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Heathrow, London City and Southampton.
Schiphol airport cancelled about 100 departures and arrivals before the noon of which a vast majority on KLM but Aer Lingus, British Airways and Flybe were also affected. KLM passengers who have yet to travel are being invited to postpone their journeys to a date up to and including Monday 18 September.
British Airways also cancelled more than dozen of flights to and from Heathrow because of high winds which slowed the normal flow of flying. Departures to Aberdeen, Dublin, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva and Nice have been grounded, along with the inbound legs.
A BA spokesperson said in a statement that they are sorry that some of their customers’ travel plans have been affected by the strong winds across the UK and northern Europe, which has led to a reduction in the number of aircraft which can land each hour at Heathrow.
“We are refunding or rebooking any affected customers onto alternative flights so they can continue their journeys as soon as possible. We are also using larger aircraft where we can to help fly customers from cancelled services to their destin ations.”
To deal with the backlog, BA has planned to send a Boeing 747 Jumbo jet to Amsterdam. While disrupted passengers do not qualify for cash compensation, their airline has a duty of care to provide meals and accommodation until they can be flown to their destinations.
The international air links in the Caribbean and Florida has faced pressure due to the disruption caused by Hurricane Irma. Although the airlines are sending more flights to pick up delayed pasenegers, cancellations are still on the way.
