Hundreds forced to rebook as Heathrow cancels arrivals

THE JOYFUL scenes usually associated with Dublin airport at Christmas were not much in evidence yesterday as hundreds of passengers queued to rebook flights that had been cancelled because of bad weather abroad.

The announcement that Heathrow airport would not be accepting arrivals affected thousands of passengers who were using the airport as a hub for travelling on to far-flung destinations such as Africa, Asia and Australia. The departures board also showed a long list of cancellations or delays to destinations such as Paris, Frankfurt, Edinburgh, Blackpool, Düsseldorf and Luxembourg.

Heathrow airport said it was managing “a handful” of departures and warned that there would be further cancellations and delays today as it continued to clear snow and ice.

None of this was good news for newlywed couple Irene and John Looney from Dundalk.

They got married on Friday and were due to fly to Heathrow yesterday for the first leg of their journey to Australia.

Ms Looney said their only hope was to fly to Gatwick airport instead and make their own way to Heathrow, in time for their night time flight to Hong Kong. That flight was one of the few still listed to depart from Heathrow last night. Celine Grace from Kilkenny said the delays had really upset her. Her Sydney-based son had organised a trip to Australia for her and her daughter Eimear. “We were to spend Christmas on Bondi,” she said.

They had intended to fly from Dublin on the first leg of the journey on Friday but were still queuing at the airport yesterday to hear their fate. “I haven’t seen my son in two-and-a-half years. We are just devastated,” she said, looking close to tears.

And it had been a frustrating weekend for Andy Canning. On Friday, it took him six hours to drive from Belmullet, Co Mayo on icy roads to Dublin airport, for his trip to Thailand.

However, the first leg of the journey to Amsterdam was cancelled and then its replacement, a flight to Paris, was also cancelled.

“I’ve missed three days of five-star luxury accommodation,” he said. “I’ve missed three days of diving.” He was considering flying to Bangkok but said he would be faced with another dilemma there as all onward flights to Koh Samui were booked up.

Dozens of people were also queuing at the Lufthansa desk, following the cancellation of flights to Frankfurt. Caroline French had been due to depart at 12.10pm but instead found herself queuing to rebook her flight. Her final destination was Ethiopia where she is doing charity work.

The Dublin Airport Authority advised intending passengers to check with their airlines before going to the airport.