London Heathrow Airport: flights cancelled as French air traffic control workers strike
Several flights from Heathrow Airport are cancelled today (Monday 20 November) after the airport saw serious delays yesterday due to "staff absence and strong winds". Temporary restrictions on how many planes can land or take off at Heathrow were put in place yesterday with the airport warning passengers that there would be "minor" changes to its schedules.
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Hide AdThe UK's air traffic services provider NATS said that the delays and cancellations were due to “staff absences in the tower” and the weather. It comes after it has been criticised in recent months for disruption at UK airports.
Over the August bank holiday thousands of flights were cancelled or disrupted when the UK's air traffic control systems suffered a technical failure. Subsequently, flights at Gatwick were cancelled, delayed or diverted at short notice due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Today over 10 flights departing the airport are cancelled and over 15 flights arriving are also cancelled. A strike by French air-traffic control staff has caused dozens of cancellations including overflights to destinations such as Spain and Switzerland. The strike began yesterday and is expected to carry on throughout the whole of Monday."
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Hide AdA Heathrow spokesperson said: "Due to strong winds and staff absence in air traffic control, temporary air traffic control restrictions were implemented at Heathrow yesterday morning. ATC continued to implement temporary regulations due to the weather conditions earlier in the afternoon but these have now been removed.
“We want to reassure passengers that our colleagues are working in close collaboration with our airline and air traffic control partners to minimise disruption and get them on their journeys as safely and as quickly as possible. We encourage passengers to check with their airline for the latest information."
A British Airways spokesperson told NationalWorld: “Like other airlines, we're experiencing some delays across our short-haul services due to a French Air Traffic Control strike. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused and we're working hard to get them to their destination as quickly as possible."
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Hide AdWhich flights are cancelled at Heathrow Airport today?
Listed are the flights departing and arriving from the airport that are cancelled today.
Arrivals
09:55 BA flight from Tel Aviv - cancelled
10:25 American Airlines flight from New York City - cancelled
11:25 BA flight from Barcelona - cancelled
11:35 BA flight from Zurich - cancelled
11:55 BA flight from Basel - cancelled
12:05 BA flight from Toulouse - cancelled
12:20 American Airlines flight from Miami - cancelled
13:25 BA flight from Nice - cancelled
14:55 Iberia flight from Madrid - cancelled
16:15 BA flight from Geneva - cancelled
16:35 BA flight from Paris - cancelled
16:55 BA flight from Barcelona - cancelled
17:45 BA flight from Brussels - cancelled
18:40 BA flight from Paris - cancelled
19:10 BA flight from Nice - cancelled
19:15 KLM flight from Amsterdam - cancelled
19:45 BA flight from Tel Aviv - cancelled
21:55 BA flight from Madrid - cancelled
Departures
09:20 United Airlines flight to San Francisco - cancelled
11:20 BA flight to Barcelona - cancelled
11:55 BA flight to Geneva - cancelled
13:05 BA flight to Paris - cancelled
13:40 BA flight to Nice - cancelled
14:30 BA flight to Brussels - cancelled
15:10 BA flight to Paris - cancelled
15:45 Iberia flight to Madrid - cancelled
16:20 BA flight to Madrid - cancelled
16:30 BA flight to Washington DC - cancelled
16:35 BA flight to New York City - cancelled
20:25 KLM flight to Amsterdam - cancelled
21:20 BA flight to Tel Aviv - cancelled
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