Clowns at the airport in Frankfurt might have brought a smile to the faces of the many passengers stranded there just before Christmas because of the snow but how long did it last? Not for very long. They were among the thousands of travellers caught up at airport terminals in a string of European countries after heavy snowfall grounded their flights.
Worst hit was, of course, Heathrow, a very important destination for Air Malta. Disruption there is always likely to have an impact on the Maltese carrier, which means it could affect the flow of tourists from the UK. But besides this every important aspect of the story, it is unacceptable to have, in this day and age, an airport of the size of Heathrow caught unprepared to deal with the clearing of snow in a manner efficient enough to ensure the least possible inconvenience to travellers.
The thousands of passengers who had to sleep at airport terminals for three days waiting for the reopening of the runways were not amused by the apology made by the airport.
When similar disruptions happened last February, the Spanish-owned airport operator said afterwards they had learnt the lesson and would ensure such problems would not happen again. They have, to the dismay of thousands of people.
Last winter, the operator is said to have increased spending on equipment by £500,000. The amount was considered by experts as far from enough for the airport to cope with a snowfall of the kind London has had. In fact, the airport has only 10 snowploughs.
In not investing enough, the operator is letting the airlines, and travellers, down. However, it was later revealed other causes for the chaos were lack of sufficient de-icing fluid, a claim denied by the operator, and lack of organisation and manpower.
With winter having just started, it is not difficult to predict similar situations in the coming weeks, that is, unless the operator pulls up its socks and urgently sees to its needs now. It is not the “forensic review” that it has promised that is needed, whatever “forensic” in this context means, but an efficient organisation to clear the snow off the runways.
Naming and shaming, as some have suggested, is not good enough either, as travellers have already formed their own idea about the efficiency or otherwise of the operator.
The European Commission is quite right in lashing out at airports, though it too could have acted earlier than it did rather than waiting for disruptions to cause so much chaos and disappointment to so many thousands of travellers who have had to cancel their plans to spend their Christmas abroad, including, in Malta. But the wheels of Brussels do not turn as fast as one might expect.
The Commission has now warned airports they could face regulation unless they get serious and provide airlines with enough support during severe weather.
Like most, it found the situation unacceptable and said it should not happen again. Actually, considering the hardship many have had to endure at the terminals, the warning is not a fraction as strong as those hit would have expected.
It will not be easy for travellers who have had to delay or cancel their holiday plans to forget their experience at Heathrow, just as many could not forget the impact of the ash cloud earlier in the year. But have airport operators learnt their lesson? Only time will tell.