Airline passengers hoping to jet off ahead of the New Year were hit by severe delays, as thick fog caused chaos at the UK’s busiest airports.
Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester, the UK’s three busiest airports, were forced to cancel a number of flights on Friday, with almost all scheduled departures severely delayed due to the troubling weather.
Almost every flight from Manchester airport was delayed throughout the day, with the majority being held back by over two hours.
Several to destinations such as Guernsey, Dublin, Munich and Hurghada were also delayed by over four hours.
A similar story was seen at both Gatwick and Heathrow, with passengers describing chaotic scenes as they waited to see if they would be taking off at all.
The country’s main air traffic control (ATC) provider Nats said that temporary air traffic restrictions were put in place at several airports due to widespread fog to “maintain safety”.
A spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor the situation and have a Met Office expert embedded within our operation to ensure we have the latest available information. Our teams are working closely with the airports and airlines to minimise disruption.”
The UK’s biggest budget airline, easyJet, said it experienced disruption to its flying programme due to low visibility. A spokesperson said: “While this is outside of our control, we are doing all we can to minimise the impact of the delays.”
One man caught up in the chaos was John Mitchell, 47, who was desperate to get back to Aberdeen after finding out his father died on Friday morning.
Mr Mitchell, who had been in London visiting friends, booked a last-minute easyJet flight from Gatwick airport on Friday which was delayed for more than three hours due to the fog.
He said he was “absolutely devastated” and hoped his flight which has been delayed till 10.53pm would actually take off on Friday.
“I was actually supposed to be in London till Sunday, but I’ve had a family bereavement. My dad passed away this morning,” Mr…
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