Confused... why is it that short haul flights can't leave Heaththrow?

Question

due ot the fog.. but long haul ones can.. they are both going to flying through the same fog.. so how can it bit dangerous for domestic flights but not for longer haul ones??

Answer 1

They have reduced the number of flights to leave a larger space between take off and landings.
Its felt that those people on short haul can make other travel arrangements like the train so give priority to long haul.

Answer 2

Heathrow runs at nearly 100% capacity. Planes approach the airport 3 miles apart. In this fog they have to come in further apart (6-7miles) effectively reducing the capacity of the airport. The reason short haul flights are suspended is that there are more alternatives are available- a train to scotland a ferry across the channel to Europe or the Eurostar. Priority therefore has been given to long haul flights where there are no alternatives to air travel.

Answer 3

Because of the fog, taxiing is slower and they can't get so many flights to the end of the runway. They make more money on the long haul flights so they cancel the short haul.

Answer 4

i was wondering the exact same thing... my guess is that hte fog is more dangerous for landing than for flying. With dometic flights there is a good chance that the plane will have to land under foggy conditions, which would not be the case on a long haul.... this is my guess though.

Answer 5

Because of the fog...And they also fly at a lower altitude than long haul flights

Answer 6

Its easier to make domestic flight passengers travel to their destination by alternative means. By advising earlier this will allow disrupted passengers more chance of arranging an alternative way.

International travel is more important.

For example drive (or if you are really [un]lucky by train) to Edinburgh from London, than London to New York.

Also flight rules state the flights need to be spaced out more which results in less slots for take off's and landings during operating hours. Bit like driving in fog, you slow down and increase space between cars.

Answer 7

Its not merely the fog thats causing this, international flights are more difficult to find alternatives to, whereas domestic or shorthaul flights can be swapped for the train, bus, or car, the airlines are trying to ensure that as few people are affected as possible

Answer 8

Long haul flights make the airlines more profit, in fact many domestic services are run at a loss, so if any flights need to be axed it's the non profit ones first.

Answer 9

it is because, as the fog is looming, planes have to be manually landed which takes longer. when a plane lands, it is landed on auto-pilot, auto-pilot cannot work though fog so the pilot has to land the plane. so because of this, they want to limit the flights.
it is easier and fairer to cancel shout-haul flights as you could get a train, eurostar, bus etc to the destination.

Answer 10

Because it is cheaper to reimburse the Short-Haul than the Long Haul