Which of the airports is most reliable during winter?

Intifada

I am flying to London in December, I haven't booked flights yet but it will be quite near to Christmas so if it gets cancelled due to weather it will be quite a disaster.

Obviously nobody can give me a guarantee, but could anyone suggest which of the airports would be least likely to have a flight cancelled at their end?

Knock/Shannon would be easiest for me to get to, but I imagine the former is the highest risk (might even be difficult to get a bus there in bad weather). I would guess Dublin to be the most reliable, although it is furthest from me so worst place for me to end up if it's cancelled.

I've had Shannon flights cancelled before, even though Ryanair's online flight status thing told me it was 'on time'. It even said 'on time' while I was sat in the airport, an hour after the cancelled departure...

Thanks for any help

Tabnabs

gives the averages, but which airport is best equipped to deal with snowfall?

Have you considered the same problem in the UK, which gets more snow than Ireland?

highlydebased

Shannon a safe bet. You were probably caught on one of the fairly rare days weather causes bother there

Victor

I imagine Dublin is the most reliable, followed by Shannon, Cork and Knock. Snow isn't a particularly high risk here - Cork suffers from low cloud and winds tend to be higher on the west coat than east.

You also need to factor in getting to the airport. If you can get a train to Dublin, then getting to the airport is easy.

MarkR

More about where the plane is coming from, rather than local conditions here that would be a factor.

Shannon would be least likely to get snow (in my opinion) than Knock. Dublin would probably have an advantage on the number of flights.

Miaireland

I would have thought that Shannon would be the best bet. Cork can sometimes have problems with fog.

Intifada

Thanks for the replies. Shannon would be best in terms of contingency plans if it did go tits up so I might opt for there!

Tenger

Miaireland wrote: »

......Cork can sometimes have problems with fog.

Sometimes? :eek:

de biz

Also a good strategy is to book a morning flight if possible,then your less likely to be stranded due schedule disruption....

Intifada

de biz wrote: »

Also a good strategy is to book a morning flight if possible,then your less likely to be stranded due schedule disruption....

I think Dublin is the only airport that offers a choice!

Jack1985

Tenger wrote: »

Sometimes? :eek:

To be fair, we've only had fog roughly 3 times since last May. New Record.

enda1

Rail & Sail is also an option. Probably the most reliable overall though pretty miserable in all.

Jude13

After seeing the article about the possibility of another snowmagedon this year I am a bit worried. (it will probably be a balmy 12 in reality)

The winter of the big snow (2010?) I got stuck in transit in Abu Dhabi airport for 14 hours, the lounges were full and not accepting anyone else. When we eventually got going we were told we were one of the firs planes to be given clearance to land in Dublin, however got diverted to Shannon. It was a planes trains and automobiles Christmas and was good fun as most people were in good spirits.

Flying BA this year via abu Dhabi and london. Lest hope its not too bad on the 19th Dec.

Aer lingus flight back on Jan the 1st at 6:40am may be a struggle though.

Tenger

Jude13 wrote: »

After seeing the article about the possibility of another snowmagedon this year I am a bit worried. (it will probably be a balmy 12 in reality)

No evidence for this forecast except the need for the tabloids to sell more papers.

roundymac

Intifada wrote: »

I think Dublin is the only airport that offers a choice!

??? can you expand on that,.

roundymac

Jack1985 wrote: »

To be fair, we've only had fog roughly 3 times since last May. New Record.

Also to be fair when we had the snow back in 2010/2011 Cork was open more often than Dublin. I remember 7 FR aircraft lined up on the cross runway 'cos DUB was closed. I don't think that any of our airports are any different when it comes to weather.

flazio

In relation to Knock any time I've watched FR24 during stormy weather the Ryanairs seem to divert to Shannon pretty quickly, however Aer Lingus Airbus from Gatwick seems to be better able to touch down. Just search for references to EI911

Victor

roundymac wrote: »

Also to be fair when we had the snow back in 2010/2011 Cork was open more often than Dublin. I remember 7 FR aircraft lined up on the cross runway 'cos DUB was closed. I don't think that any of our airports are any different when it comes to weather.

The north and east coasts suffers more from cold and snow, the south and west from rain and wind.

exiledelbows

If you're worried about the other end, Gatwick has the same number of snowploughs as Oslo. Avoid Heathrow.

enda1

Wonder how some of the other regionals would fare. Kerry springs to mind in particular with flight from the late afternoon/early evening to two London airports.

Jude13

exiledelbows wrote: »

If you're worried about the other end, Gatwick has the same number of snowploughs as Oslo. Avoid Heathrow.

Can't avoid heathrow sadly as I am flying via there.

Irish Steve

The one issue that can hit Dublin hard in comparison to the other airports is snow on a north easterly wind, if the direction is right, the Isle of Man shadow can cause major problems, there was a period a while back where the airport area, and not much else was hit by snow for a number of days, as the wind changed slightly, the snow band, which was pretty narrow, moved up and down the coast in response, but never far from the airport area. They didn't cope well that year, and I think as a result, they've had to put significant money into extra snow clearing equipment.

cameramonkey

The sail/ rail is an alternative and if you time it right and dont get on a ferry with bad connection you can make it to London in about 6 0r 7 hours from Dublin port. I used it a lot during the Iceland volcanic ash time and once when Dublin airport was closed. It can be a real pain in the ass if you do it over and over bit a once off can have novelty entertainment value.

http://www.stenaline.ie/ferries-to-britain/rail-sail
http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/offers/sail-rail/

I have to stress however, pick your sailing carefully. if you dont you can increase your journey time by a 3 or more hours. A long stop in Holyhead in winter is not for the faint hearted.

Irish Steve

cameramonkey wrote: »

The sail/ rail is an alternative and if you time it right and dont get on a ferry with bad connection you can make it to London in about 6 0r 7 hours from Dublin port. I used it a lot during the Iceland volcanic ash time and once when Dublin airport was closed. It can be a real pain in the ass if you do it over and over bit a once off can have novelty entertainment value.

http://www.stenaline.ie/ferries-to-britain/rail-sail
http://www.irishferries.com/uk-en/offers/sail-rail/

I have to stress however, pick your sailing carefully. if you dont you can increase your journey time by a 3 or more hours. A long stop in Holyhead in winter is not for the faint hearted.

And a long stop at night in Holyhead, (can be over 4 hours) is not good if you have any luggage, falling asleep can lead to the luggage taking an unscheduled walk in the hands of a traveller that's not sleeping, and probably not planning to leave by train from Holyhead.

hfallada

Jude13 wrote: »

After seeing the article about the possibility of another snowmagedon this year I am a bit worried. (it will probably be a balmy 12 in reality)

The winter of the big snow (2010?) I got stuck in transit in Abu Dhabi airport for 14 hours, the lounges were full and not accepting anyone else. When we eventually got going we were told we were one of the firs planes to be given clearance to land in Dublin, however got diverted to Shannon. It was a planes trains and automobiles Christmas and was good fun as most people were in good spirits.

Weather cant be predicted accurately more than 10 days in advance, even with all the technology break through. I imagine Dublin is the safest bet. Dublin gets the lowest levels of precipitation in Ireland(less than London). Its generally the only city in Ireland, that has the resources to deal with snow and ice. Last year most mornings I woke up to roads they were so heavily gritted that I could cycle with no issues at all. Dublin airport has the resources to deal with ice pretty well

LXFlyer

Irish Steve wrote: »

And a long stop at night in Holyhead, (can be over 4 hours) is not good if you have any luggage, falling asleep can lead to the luggage taking an unscheduled walk in the hands of a traveller that's not sleeping, and probably not planning to leave by train from Holyhead.

No one in their right mind would use the evening sailings from Dublin. It's utterly pointless given that the 02:15 Stena sailing connects directly into the 06:55 Virgin trains service to London from Holyhead, getting you into London for 10:37.


Each of the morning Irish Ferries SWIFT sailings, and the morning Stena and Irish Ferries sailings from Dublin have good connections at Holyhead.

L1011

roundymac wrote: »

??? can you expand on that,.

In terms of backup routings / route competition if you get stuck, I guess. Very few places served less than daily and also few with less than one carrier whereas the other airports have few with either >daily routing multi-carrier

Irish Steve

lxflyer wrote: »

No one in their right mind would use the evening sailings from Dublin. It's utterly pointless given that the 02:15 Stena sailing connects directly into the 06:55 Virgin trains service to London from Holyhead, getting you into London for 10:37.


Each of the morning Irish Ferries SWIFT sailings, and the morning Stena and Irish Ferries sailings from Dublin have good connections at Holyhead.

Fair comment, it used to be the case that neither of the ferries in the early morning carried foot passengers, Irish Ferries still don't, but I see that Stena have changed their policy on this and the 02:15 is now available, which I'm pleased to see, as it will make some trips easier and cheaper, if I'd known that Stena were available, a day trip to Birmingham by rail would have been possible recently, the Ryanair prices were just too high.

I went over a while back and needed to be on the earlier service in order to get to my planned destination at a suitable time, and the gap from nearly 00:30 until the first train out at 04:25 for Birmingham was not pleasant, as there's not much in the way of facilities at Holyhead once the coffee dock closes at 01:00, the only good thing that can be said about the waiting area is that it's lit, and dry, but beyond that, it's not good.

My parents, one over 90, the other not far off, are happy to use the sail rail on a regular basis from the west country, they prefer it to flying, and I know where they are coming from, the absence of hassle from security, among other things, makes the journey a lot less stressful, even though it is a lot longer. We've also used it as well, and it's a lot simpler.

Victor

Irish Steve wrote: »

The one issue that can hit Dublin hard in comparison to the other airports is snow on a north easterly wind, if the direction is right, the Isle of Man shadow can cause major problems, there was a period a while back where the airport area, and not much else was hit by snow for a number of days, as the wind changed slightly, the snow band, which was pretty narrow, moved up and down the coast in response, but never far from the airport area. They didn't cope well that year, and I think as a result, they've had to put significant money into extra snow clearing equipment.

Surely the Isle of Man should create a band of reduced snow, not increased snow? When the cold air goes across warm water, moisture evaporates. When the air is forced to higher altitudes over land, the moisture consensuses and forms snow. Hence, in 2009-201 Limerick got very little, if any snow.

Irish Steve

Victor wrote: »

Surely the Isle of man should create a band of reduced snow, not increased snow? When the cold air goes across warm water, moisture evaporates. When the air is forced to higher altitudes over land, the moisture consensuses and forms snow. Hence, in 2009-201 Limerick got very little, if any snow.

It all depends on the wind direction and strength. If the wind is below a certain strength, it gets lazy, hits the high ground and rather than going up and over, with snow to the east side of the island as it does so, it turns to run along the coast until it comes around the end of the island, at which point you have a narrow streamer of more concentrated cloud heading for the East Coast, which when it then hits the coast, dumps it's snow in a narrow band that rarely reaches more than a couple of miles or so inland, so the airport can be seeing significant snow, and there's nothing in central Dublin, or much north of Swords, or much beyond Blanchardstown. It happened a few years back, the width of the snow line was probably no more than a mile, and it wandered up and down the coast over a few days from Balbriggan to Fairview, but for quite a long period of it's existence, it was centred pretty much on the airport, and it caused chaos, as they couldn't get on top of it with the equipment they had at the time.

The sort of result was there there was next to no snow on the ground in Ashbourne, I'd go towards Swords, and by Rolestown, things were getting "interesting", they didn't bother me in a 4 x 4 with good snow tyres, but they for sure did cause problems for many people. Going North from Swords, by the time I was half way to Balbriggan, things cleared again. It was that localised. On the other side of that coin, the higher ground up around Naul and Garristown were seeing falls of several inches of snow, which meant that most people stayed away from those roads, but it was then ideal 4 x 4 country, fresh unpacked snow, made for easy driving compared to the packed frozen stuff on the lower ground near Swords.

No telling what's going to happen this year, but I've still got the 4 x 4, so either way, it won't worry me too much.

A Dub in Glasgo

Jude13 wrote: »

Can't avoid heathrow sadly as I am flying via there.

My experience of Heathrow is that they will ask the airlines cancel or dramatically curtail shorthaul flights when there is disruption in order that they protect long haul operations. I was stranded over night (put up in a hotel) a few years ago because of this.

Jude13

I am going Dublin-London-abu Dhabi and on-wards. I just need to get out of London, worrying about a no existent event at the moment.

When I land in London I land in terminal 2, I then have 95 mins till my next flight departs T5, makeable?

LXFlyer

Jude13 wrote: »

I am going Dublin-London-abu Dhabi and on-wards. I just need to get out of London, worrying about a no existent event at the moment.

When I land in London I land in terminal 2, I then have 95 mins till my next flight departs T5, makeable?

Why don't you fly Dublin-London with BA? Then the transfer will be completely within Terminal 5. I generally leave 2 hour transfers getting from one terminal to another.


Reading this thread - how can anyone be sure what weather will or will not prevail at a particular time in these islands? You can't and going around worrying about something no one has any control over is frankly serious overkill.

Jude13

I am flying with BA, however they put me on an Aer lingus flight for my return.

Going home its land in T5 and leave from T5.

On the way back its land in T2 and leave from T5. Hope the Christmas pressies I am bringing home arrive.

Its my first time flying home with BA after being a long term Etihad flyer however they lost my luggage in August and were a nightmare to deal with. The bag is still missing.

LXFlyer

Jude13 wrote: »

I am flying with BA, however they put me on an Aer lingus flight for my return.

Going home its land in T5 and leave from T5.

On the way back its land in T2 and leave from T5. Hope the Christmas pressies I am bringing home arrive.

Its my first time flying home with BA after being a long term Etihad flyer however they lost my luggage in August and were a nightmare to deal with. The bag is still missing.

Well why not ask them to change you to a BA operated flight from Heathrow to Dublin?


You can choose which flights you want, rather than let them choose.

enda1

Jude13 wrote: »

I am flying with BA, however they put me on an Aer lingus flight for my return.

Going home its land in T5 and leave from T5.

On the way back its land in T2 and leave from T5. Hope the Christmas pressies I am bringing home arrive.

Its my first time flying home with BA after being a long term Etihad flyer however they lost my luggage in August and were a nightmare to deal with. The bag is still missing.

If you have status with Ethiad, try get it matched by BA. Very handy for all the perks that offers. I'm sure you could get the aer lingus flight changed to a BA operated one too if you requested.

A Dub in Glasgo

It is more likely that BA will cancel their short haul network in the event of Heathrow disruption than AL so AL is a safer bet in my view.

It is all speculative as nobody knows what the weather holds however, my experience is that in the event of disruption at Heathrow the airlines (especially BA) are likely to curtail their short haul network. To that end, I always try to avoid Heathrow in winter months (granted most of my previous flights were UK domestic and I could easily choose to avoid Heathrow(.

Jude13

enda1 wrote: »

If you have status with Ethiad, try get it matched by BA. Very handy for all the perks that offers. I'm sure you could get the aer lingus flight changed to a BA operated one too if you requested.

I have gold status with Etihad, how would I go about getting it matched by BA?

enda1

Jude13 wrote: »

I have gold status with Etihad, how would I go about getting it matched by BA?

Here's an example of what someone did to get BA status.
If BA fails, try with ever other Oneworld partner.

Basically, photo of your current card.
Screenshot of your Etihad Guest profile.
Evidence of route activity that BA runs in parallel.
Lastly a note mentioning you want to move to BA but status with Etihad is holding you back...

Jude13

lxflyer wrote: »

Well why not ask them to change you to a BA operated flight from Heathrow to Dublin?


You can choose which flights you want, rather than let them choose.

The flight I am on is the earlist flight that they have on the 1st Jan, no option really

Jude13

enda1 wrote: »

Here's an example of what someone did to get BA status.
If BA fails, try with ever other Oneworld partner.

Basically, photo of your current card.
Screenshot of your Etihad Guest profile.
Evidence of route activity that BA runs in parallel.
Lastly a note mentioning you want to move to BA but status with Etihad is holding you back...

I will give this a go tomorrow.Cheers.