Birmingham flights to help Eurostar passengers
Dec 22 2009 by James Cartledge, Birmingham Mail
LARGER planes were running between Birmingham and Paris today to help ease the Christmas travel nightmare facing thousands of stranded Eurostar passengers.
Flybe said it was increasing capacity on the route to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport for the next four days.
Several flights were diverted to Birmingham yesterday as snow and ice left runways at some other UK airports closed.
A restricted Eurostar service was resuming today after thousands were trapped in trains in the Channel Tunnel at the weekend, with the operator blaming the amount of “lighter, fluffier” type of snow for the travel turmoil.
On the roads, more heavy snow left many routes in the Home Counties gridlocked with London and the South East the worst hit for vehicle breakdowns.
In Basingstoke, Hampshire, up to 3,000 people were trapped when around 2,000 vehicles ground to a halt.
Five emergency rescue centres were set up overnight to help motorists stranded by the snow and ice.
Virtually all motorists had managed to managed to move on by 2.30am, a Hampshire Police spokesman said.
There were no reports of any casualties as a result of the cold weather, he added.
Drivers also faced severe delays on the M40 in Buckinghamshire and in Reading, Berkshire, last night.
Six rest centres were set up in High Wycombe to help stranded drivers, with another two in Reading.
Budget airline easyJet said the hangover from yesterday’s bad weather would see scores of flights cancelled from Luton, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow and Edinburgh airports today.
British Airways cancelled all UK and European flights departing after 7pm yesterday, and was “strongly” advising passengers to check their flight status before setting off today.
Staff at Gatwick were working to clear a backlog after reopening the runway last night, while Aberdeen, Luton and Southampton were also working to resume flight operations.
Manchester Airport – where passengers had to endure long waits just to reach the check-in desk – gave out food, water and blankets overnight to passengers stranded by delays.
In Bradford, a man was found dead in a city centre pond.
The victim, named locally as Trevor Farr, who was 55 and from the city, was reported to have suffered a heart attack before falling in. Fears were also growing for missing Adam Passfield. He was last seen at 2.30am on Saturday in Chelmsford, Essex, after a night out with members of Heybridge Swifts FC.
A seven-year-old girl who went missing in Nottingham yesterday morning returned home safe and well last night.
