UPDATED: Christmas chaos – fog hits flights again

Thick fog has caused severe disruption to British Airways and other flights for a second day.

BA has been forced to cancel all domestic flights to and from Heathrow while other services from Gatwick, Liverpool, Manchester and Cardiff are also reported to be affected today.

The airline has already cancelled at least 100 Heathrow flights tomorrow.

A BA statement said: “As a consequence of the fog and continued Air Traffic Control restrictions in the number of arrivals and departures at London Heathrow, which will be in place throughout Friday December 22, British Airways will be cancelling all domestic services and some European services to and from the airport.

“So far for Friday December 22, British Airways has cancelled around 100 short haul flights, including domestics, to and from Heathrow out of a normal short haul flying schedule of 400 flights, but warned that there may be further cancellations.”

A total of 350 flights at Heathrow were cancelled today and airport operator BAA’s website crashed this morning due to the weight of enquiries.

About 180 BA flights were cancelled out of a normal total of 400 shorthaul services on top of 223 cancellations across all airlines yesterday. Services to and from mainland Europe are also badly disrupted.

BA warned of the likelihood of continuing disruption until the fog lifts. 

Passengers have been advised to check the status of their flight before leaving for the airport. Those on domestic flights have been advised not to go to Heathrow.

But thousands have had their Christmas travel plans ruined due to the poor weather conditions across many parts of the UK. 

BA said air traffic control had placed restrictions on the numbers of flights allowed to take off and land at Heathrow due to the dense fog.

Bmi, Alitalia and Lufthansa also had flights affected yesterday.

Flights from Gatwick are subject to delays of up to 90 minutes and nine BA domestic flights have been cancelled. Flights to and from Southampton are being delayed by around an hour, with some inbound diversions to Bristol and Exeter, while Stansted is unaffected.

A BAA statement said: “Our airports are experiencing disruption due to the dense and, in some places, freezing fog which is set to continue over the coming days.  

“Passengers intending to fly in the next few days are strongly advised to check with their airlines on the status of their flight before departing for the airport.” 

Report by Phil Davies