Updated 4 p.m. p.m.
An Air Malta extra flight to London Gatwick to pick up passengers who have been stranded for days was delayed by three hours this afternoon as snow continued to cause disruptions in air travel to and from the British capital and other N. European airports.
The extra flight to Gatwick was meant to leave Malta at 3 p.m. but has now been delayed till at least 6 p.m.
Meanwhile, Air Malta said that the operators of Heathrow airport have instructed airlines operating less than three daily frequencies to that airport to reduce their flight activity into one flight a day. As a result, Air Malta has cancelled this evening's flight. Passengers will be rebooked on the extra flight to London Gatwick.
Air Malta aircraft that was scheduled to operate KM101 from Heathrow to Malta last Saturday but was stranded by the snow will finally depart London at 5 p.m. (UK time) today.
A flight between Malta and Brussels this afternoon was also cancelled while a fight to Paris this morning had to be rerouted to Lyons due to adverse weather condition at Paris Orly. The flight landed in Lyon at 11.30 and it is expected to leave Lyon to Paris Orly at 5.15 p.m.
A passenger booked on the Brussels flight to Malta said this was the second Air Malta flight to have been cancelled in as many days. He said the airline was only offering a flight late on Christmas eve, arriving in Malta at 11.45 p.m. He insisted that Air Malta should lay on an extra flight not to spoil the Christmas plans of so many people.
Brussels Airport said flights would be grounded from until Wednesday because of a lack of de-icing liquid following the heavy snow.
Meanwhile, Air Malta said it is offering a rescue fare of €126 inclusive of taxes to stranded passengers originally booked on Easy Jet or RyanAir (to the UK), whose flights were cancelled. The rescue fare is valid only for this evening KM3118 Malta to London Gatwick.
26 flights, incoming and outgoing, have been cancelled since last Friday because of the bad weather in the UK and Northern Europe. Of these, 12 were Air Malta flights, six Lufthansa, six easyJet and two Ryanair.
11 of these flights were to and from London (seven Heathrow and four Gatwick), six from and to Frankfurt, two on the Amsterdam, two on the Pisa route, two Manchester, two Paris (CDG) and one to and from Brussels.