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Proceeding contribution from Lord Hammond of Runnymede (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Monday, 20 December 2010. It occurred during Ministerial statement on Severe Winter Weather.


Severe Winter Weather

We will, and my hon. Friend's question has to be addressed to the operators. British Airways made the call on Saturday morning to cancel all flights, because it considered it certain that the airport would have to close. I have spoken to Willie Walsh today, and he has told me that based on the forecast he saw on Saturday morning, any airport anywhere in Europe, bar none, would have had to close. BA therefore made the decision to pull all its flights. The lesson that is emerging for BAA, which it will take away from the situation, is that it has to be more proactive in examining forward forecasts, and that when airlines do not make a decision to stop flights, the operator might have to make that decision for them, to avoid large numbers of people being stranded in terminals.


Secondary information

Type
Proceeding contribution
Reference
520 c1223 
Session
2010-12
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Subjects
Cold weather payments Aviation Airports Energy supply Heathrow Airport Highways Agency Public transport Railways Roads Salt Snow and ice BAA Winter Resilience Review
Link
View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk