Thousands of passengers with arrivals and departures at the Gatwick Airport yesterday were warned to anticipate delays with icy weather conditions forcing the runway at Gatwick Airport to close for almost 4 hours. The British Airports Authority said that the taxi-ways and the runway were opened again at around 10:30am after they did some de-icing work on the taxi stands and runway.

Flights arriving at the airport were diverted to other runways, like those at Stansted Airport, Luton Airport, and London Heathrow Airport. The British Airports Authority warned about delays and advised passengers to contact the airline they were booked with for information. They also advised them to allow more time for their trip to the airport.

By 8:45am, there were 60 outbound and inbound flights diverted, delayed, or canceled. The whole shutdown, however, resulted in more than 100 aircrafts being grounded. Other airports worldwide faced much worse conditions, and business continued as usual. Many carriers at the airport were furious, describing the lack of preparation a disgrace. Airport officials insisted that the weather wasn’t expected.

The British Airports Authority issued a statement, with a spokeswoman saying that there was an unanticipated snowfall and temperature drop suffered by the airport. Gatwick Airport apologizes for any inconvenience that was caused to travel plans due to closing the runway, and they will keep working close with their carriers and other partners in order to minimize the impact of delayed flights and get operations back to normal as soon as the runway is safe.

Learn more about the airport at: www.gatwickairport.com