The European Commission again is criticizing European airports over the handling of recent disruptions caused by heavy snowfall and is suggesting that it may have to set minimum service requirements for airports.
The airports, however, say they “are doing their utmost” to maintain operations and assist stranded passengers, and blasted attempts by some media outlets to equate the current situation with the fallout from last spring’s volcanic eruption in Iceland.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Dec. 21, the EC’s transport policy commissioner, Siim Kallas, said he is “extremely concerned about the level of disruption to travel across Europe caused by severe snow. It is unacceptable and should not happen again.”
The commissioner said the EC is “monitoring the situation very closely and is in constant touch with airlines, airports, rail operators and national authorities responsible for passenger rights.”
His statement comes as London’s Heathrow, one of the busiest airports in the world, continues to struggle to return to normal operations after the first snowfall on Saturday morning. The airport closed both runways over the weekend and only reopened the second runway on Tuesday evening. It is currently only operating 30% of scheduled flights. Thousands of passengers have been stranded with many being forced to sleep on terminal floors due to a shortage of hotel rooms.
“In recent days, I have become increasingly concerned about the problems relating to the infrastructure available to airlines—airports and ground handling—during this severe period of snow. It seems at this stage that this is a “weak link” in a chain which, under pressure, is contributing to severe disruption.”
Kallas says he intends to call a meeting with airports to ask for further explanations and “take a hard look at what is necessary to make sure they would be able to operate more effectively in the similar situations in the future.”
“Airports must “get serious” about planning for this kind of severe weather conditions. We have seen in recent years that snow in Western Europe is not such an exceptional circumstance. Better preparedness, in line with what is done in Northern Europe is not an optional extra, it must be planned for and with the necessary investment, particularly on the side of the airports.”
Airports across Western Europe have been accused of serious under investment in winter equipment and staff to cope with the severe weather conditions. Airport operator BAA, which owns London’s Heathrow, spent just £500,000 ($773,480) on upgrading its snow clearing equipment and staff training this year despite expected pre-tax profits of nearly £1 billion.
Kallas added: “If there is a need for support from the European Commission in terms of regulation on minimum service requirements for airports in this area, I am prepared to do that, for example, when we bring forward the airports package on slots and ground-handling which is foreseen before summer next year.”
ACI-Europe countered that 88% of flights planned to and from European airports took place on Monday, Dec. 20. In a statement also released on Tuesday, ACI-Europe said: “Aside from the localized impact of weather conditions, the current situation also reflects variations in airport infrastructure configurations and layouts,runway and apron capacity as well as local air traffic control restrictions.”
Olivier Jankovec, director general, ACI-Europe, said, “For quite a while, we have been calling for airports to be given appropriate authority to control how their infrastructure is being used by others. The forthcoming revision of EU legislation on ground handling is the opportunity to allow airports to set minimum operational standards for ground handlers in relation to service quality and safety.”
Attempts to compare the snow-caused disruption with the volcanic eruption are “exaggerated” and ignore the differences in the scope and impact of the disruptions, the airport group said
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