Fog causes further cancellations and delays at UK airports

A thick blanket of fog has caused flights to be cancelled at Heathrow Airport this morning, following a host of similar cancellations on Sunday night.

Although the fog has begun to lift, the weather has continued to cause problems for UK airports, with many early-morning flights being grounded.

Thirty seven arriving flights and 23 departures were cancelled at Heathrow this morning, although the airport reported that conditions had since improved.

Grounded: Heathrow Airport was shrouded in thick fog this morning

Destinations affected included Manchester, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Brussels, Stockholm, Cologne and Nice.

A BAA spokesperson told TravelMail: ‘The fog is clearing and there are currently no restrictions on flying and no delays but we’re advising passengers to check with their airline.’

Thirteen arriving flights and 18 departing flights at London City Airport were also axed, with services to Dublin, Rotterdam and Paris among those hit.

Two arrivals were cancelled at Gatwick airport but the airport is now accepting diverted flights from other airports.

Norwich International airport is also experiencing delays and cancellations.

One flight scheduled to leave Leeds Bradford Airport was cancelled this morning. The 6.20am KLM service had been due to fly to Amsterdam, which has also been affected by fog.

Runways at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport had been closed this morning due to foggy weather and KLM issued a warning to passengers that some of their flights may be delayed or cancelled.

Travel chaos: The cancellations caused long queues at Heathrow's Terminal 5

The early-morning problems followed severe disruption to flights due to heavy fog on Sunday, with Heathrow having to cancel 81 departures and 65 arrivals.

The Met Office yesterday issued a severe weather warning for regions including London and the South-East, the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber and the east of England.

Hundreds of passengers had their journeys disrupted as fog grounded flights at London airports.

London City Airport said 44 flights were suspended and dozens delayed or diverted due to the poor weather, though all restrictions had been lifted by late last night.

There were also severe delays at Gatwick, however officials said there were only eight cancellations.

Weather warning: An airplane is pictured on the tarmac of the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam under heavy fog

On the roads, visibility was said to be less than 100 yards in some areas.
A man of 20 was killed after his car struck a garden wall in thick fog in Strood, Kent.

Two passengers were treated for minor injuries. The M25 was reduced to a 30mph zone as drivers struggled to get home.

And forecasters have predicted that wintry weather is on the way.

Temperatures are expected to remain mild until Thursday when frosts and gale force winds of up to 60mph will set in, forecasters said.

The UK is expected to experience temperatures of 8c (46f) across the country, and close to zero at night by the end of the week.

Snow will hit the UK by the end of the week, according to the Met Office, who forecast that the Scottish Highlands are likely to see snow on Thursday or Friday.

Met Office forecaster Steven Keates said: ‘Towards the end of the week it will definitely feel colder, particularly in the North.

‘Temperatures will be back to normal for this time of year.’

However forecasters said another freezing winter - which would be the third in a row - was unlikely.

Air Malawi suspends Johannesburg flights

The national airline Air Malawi has suspended flights to Johannesburg until December 1.A statement from the company says the suspension follows the expiry of the lease agreement on the aircraft it has been using recently for those flights.“Air Malawi is informing the travelling public that upon expiry of the lease agreement on the Boeing 737-200, the airline is currently in the process of sourcing a better, reliable and efficient aircraft.“As such all flights to Johannesburg have temporarily been suspended for a period of two weeks. It is estimated that these flights will resume on 1st December 2011,” reads a statement from Air Malawi.The airline also says its other aircraft, ATR 42, which has been undergoing maintenance, is expected to be back in service on Monday November 21.This will enable Air Malawi to resume all flights to Blantyre, Lilongwe, Harare, Lusaka and Dar-es-salaam from that date.Air Malawi has been leasing the Boeing 737-200 for about two years as its other aircraft has been out for maintenance in South Africa for almost three years now.Chief Executive Officer Patrick Chilambe said yesterday leasing costs the company, already saddled with debts, a lot more money. He could not say how much.“We are putting the Joburg flights on hold until we complete the formalities of a new leasing agreement,” he said.

EgyptAir resumes flights to Tripoli

CAIRO - Egypt's national airliner EgyptAir resumed its flights to the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Thursday, after seven months of suspension due to the Libyan war, an airport source said.

The Cairo-Tripoli flight took off from the Cairo International Airport with 82 passengers aboard, said the source with the airport. The company will have 11 flights to Libya every week.

Egypt resumed its flights to the Libyan city of Benghazi on November 1. But its service to Tripoli was postponed due to the maintenance work at the Tripoli airport.

Qantas/SAA codeshare agreement failed to win government approval

Qantas' global network has been dealt a blow as the airline's proposed five year extension of its codeshare agreement with South African Airways failed to win government approval.

The International Air Services Commission (IASC) branded the arrangement a "poor substitute for competition" and proposed that the arrangement be extended only until December 31, 2012 rather than granting the five years sought by the airlines.

The codeshare currently enables both airlines to offer combined double daily services on the Johannesburg-Sydney and Johannesburg-Perth routes at a reduced overall operating cost.

Since IASC granted short-term approval to the agreement in September 2010, the competitive environment had deteriorated significantly, it said. The year saw V Australia withdraw from the route and South African Airways reduce capacity on its Perth service.

"Over the longer term there is a greater prospect of either entry and/or more competition between the incumbent airlines for traffic which currently travels via third countries in the absence of the code share," IASC said.

Rather than ending the arrangement with immediate effect, IASC granted short-term approval to prevent disruption to both the airline and the travelling public, and to avoid any monopoly.

Qantas argued earlier this year that refusal would result in the route eventually being served by a single carrier.

However, a submission by Virgin Australia to the IASC disputed this, warning that a renewed long term agreement would actually deter new entrants.

The commission also proposed to impose a condition that both airlines maintain a combined minimum of 14 services per week for the duration of the codeshare, meaning SAA must resume daily flights after 31 December 2011. "This is necessary, in the commission's view, to prevent the airlines from reducing capacity in order to cut costs and drive up load factors and fares," IASC said.

Mugabe follows up on AirZim, Chinese aviation deal

Zimbabwe’s troubled national airline, Air Zimbabwe, could soon partner with a Chinese passenger carrier, the Zimbabwe Guardian has learnt.

President Mugabe is at the forefront of brokering a deal with Chinese airline, Hainani.

The president yesterday met a delegation from that airline to discuss possible ways of venturing into a partnership with troubled Air Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s ambassador to China, Frederick Shava expressed confidence of striking a deal with Hainani Airline, saying the airline has shown interest in operating in Zimbabwe.

The President also met the owners of Anjin Diamond – Chinese company licensed to mine diamonds in the country.

The meeting with the Chinese business people was also attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Dr Joseph Made, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and government officials.

The president and all the officials are on a state visit to the eastern country.

President Mugabe and his delegation will conclude the state visit this Thursday.

Chinese state media reported that the Zimbabwe and China promised closer ties on infrastructure projects, agriculture, mining and trade.

But no details were given of any new deals that might have been signed.

Reuters news agency quoted Chinese official statistics as saying trade between the two countries was worth $717m in the first nine months of this year – a 62% rise compared with with the same period last year.

In March, China signed nearly $700 million in loan deals with Zimbabwe, and urged the government to protect Chinese firms from nationalisation plans.

China’s investments have been growing steadily in Zimbabwe and include diamond and chrome mining, platinum concessions, road construction, cotton and tobacco companies as well as a cement manufacturing plant.

Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping praised President Mugabe as an “old friend” of China and “a famed leader of the national liberation movement in Africa”.

“China is willing to join hands with Zimbabwe, enhance friendly exchanges, and expand practical cooperation,” Xi said after meeting with President Mugabe.

Chinese media reported that the two men agreed to deepen cooperation on projects related to infrastructure, agriculture, mining and trade.

Xi, who is likely to succeed Hu Jintao as China’s president in 2012, apparently is committed to increasing Beijing’s cooperation with African countries.

KLM launches new route to Luanda in Angola

KLM expanded its African network on 14 November by launching two weekly flights to Luanda (LAD) from its Amsterdam (AMS) hub. KLM will be operating to the Angolan capital airport, which its sister airline Air France already also serves twice a week from Paris, with 318-seat 777-200ER aircraft. Air France and KLM will be serving a total of 45 destinations in Africa this winter.

Direct flights for King Shaka Durban

Durban: Plans are afoot to have two airlines flying directly from Durban’s King Shaka Airport to SADC countries such as Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

SAA and SA Express airlines were willing to fly from Durban to Southern African Development Community members and other African countries, Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba said yesterday.

This was after discussing state-owned enterprises with the KwaZulu-Natal government and representatives of airline companies at the Dube TradePort.

So far, the Emirates was the only carrier to fly international routes out of Durban.

Gigaba said routes were still being discussed with the two airlines.

KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize said that King Shaka Airport was a major success, and there were agreements with airlines to increase the cargo section.

Economic Development MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu denied that the airport’s cargo section was underutilised.

Gigaba announced that the state-owned company Infraco would expand broadband connectivity to nine more areas in the province.

He said the government was expanding rail and harbour infrastructure in Kwa-Zulu-Natal.