Ice-proofing pays off as Heathrow endures rare London blizzard

As the worst snowfall in years blocks roads and shuts down much of Britain’s rail network, there is at least one bright spot for travellers -- London’s once notoriously weather-sensitive Heathrow airport has managed to keep its runways open and flights operating. Europe’s busiest hub, which closed for four days in 2010 after just 90 minutes of snow, has so far ridden out the worst of the weather system dubbed “The Beast from the East” with only a handful of flight cancellations to other airports closed Thursday by the blizzard. Key to Heathrow’s improved resilience is GBP37m ($50m) of investment in snow-clearing and de-icing equipment purchased after clients including BA criticised management over shutdowns when other airports were coping. Heathrow said it’s optimistic that the harshest of this week’s weather may have passed, in southeast England at least. “There’s more wintry weather forecast for today but our operation is much more able to cope than in 2010, when people were stuck in the airport for days,” a Heathrow spokesman said. Heathrow worked with airlines to consolidate a few hundred flights on short-haul routes in order to build slack into the schedule should the weather quickly deteriorate. The hub normally has about 1,300 services a day. London Gatwick airport cancelled about 57 of 352 scheduled departures, again mainly due to closures elsewhere. The airport has also invested heavily in anti-icing gear. Stansted, north of London and the biggest base for Ryanair, was “fully open,” though is bracing for heavier falls on Friday, when managers have been called in to assist operations staff. It closed briefly Wednesday so that snow could be cleared, but delays were minimal.<br/>