Flights from Heathrow/Gatwick

[stevem]

Anyone flying from London check that you have enough time in Bangkok or Singapore, as airlines are rerouting flights due to the shortage of aviation fuel caused by the fire.

Qantas and BA flights are operating via Stanstead.
Singapore Airlines are operating some flights via Frankfurt
Thai, can't confirm at the moment, but flights are arriving in Bangkok late so must be stopping somewhere.

Just be aware that you maybe arriving late into your transfer point.

[Dodger]

Originally Posted by stevem

Anyone flying from London check that you have enough time in Bangkok or Singapore, as airlines are rerouting flights due to the shortage of aviation fuel caused by the fire.

Qantas and BA flights are operating via Stanstead.
Singapore Airlines are operating some flights via Frankfurt
Thai, can't confirm at the moment, but flights are arriving in Bangkok late so must be stopping somewhere.

Just be aware that you maybe arriving late into your transfer point.

Thanks Steve would have been really useful tip if I wasn't staying here in cold ol blighty for the xmas period, still at least I can phone Denver and have a chat with him, maybe pull a little google cracker on christmas day together.

[stevem]

Just a further update to this, it is very likely that this will be standard operations for the next 6 months, and will add about 1 hour to the journey time.

[Coolhand]

British Airways have just confirmed to me that there is no change to their scheduled arrival or departure times on long haul flights.
So it looks like BA is protecting its fuel sources and letting the other airlines suffer!

[dizbuster]

Oil fire leads to plane pitstops





Flights from Heathrow to Australia are having to make unscheduled stops at Stansted Airport to take on more fuel.

Qantas aircraft are refuelling at the Essex terminal because of rationing at Heathrow after the fire at Buncefield oil depot in Hemel Hempstead.

The depot is said to supply a third of the fuel for Heathrow. Some aircraft are only being allowed 40% of the fuel they would normally take on board.

Tony Astle of airport company BAA said restrictions could last some weeks.

Fuel restrictions

Qantas said it was adding about an hour and a half to journey times to the Far East and Australia to allow for the refuelling.

Mr Astle said: "Clearly the loss of one third of our fuel supply is having an impact on us but with the co-operation of all the airlines, Heathrow continues to operate normally.

"I think there will be fuel restrictions at Heathrow for possibly some weeks to come.

"Fuel demand at Heathrow is now approximately the same as the fuel that is being supplied into the airport, so the operations are unlikely to see any serious delays and the situation is improving hour by hour and day by day."

[stevem]

So sounds not as bad what my sources have led me to believe, thats good.

[dizbuster]

Originally Posted by stevem

So sounds not as bad what my sources have led me to believe, thats good.

Yep, fingers crossed for all BM's headed that way soon, that there will be little or no delays.

[Coolhand]

Originally Posted by stevem

So sounds not as bad what my sources have led me to believe, thats good.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic said that they were unaffected by the fuel rations. The rationing is having a disproportionate effect on foreign airlines because the contingency plans agreed by BAA and its customers give priority to long-haul domestic carriers.

BAA said that it was impossible to predict how long the disruption would last or what long-term measures would be taken to replace what was Heathrow’s largest source of fuel.

BAA, the FTSE 100 airports group, is rationing aviation fuel at Heathrow, forcing some of the world’s biggest airlines to divert to other airports to refuel.
The rations are the result of Sunday’s fire at the Buncefield oil storage facility at Hemel Hempstead, which wiped out Total’s fuel depot. The depot supplied Heathrow with a third of the airport’s jet fuel requirement through a direct pipeline.



The rations at Heathrow have forced Qantas, the Australian carrier, to make unscheduled refuelling stops at Stansted, which is adding up to 90 minutes to its journey.

Other carriers, thought to include South African Airlines and Singapore Airlines, are also being forced to make additional stops as far afield as Italy.

A BAA spokeswoman said: “We have placed restrictions on fuel uplift and some carriers won’t be able to take on enough fuel for the entire journey. We are asking short-haul aircraft to tanker fuel from foreign airports to Heathrow.”

Long-haul aircraft are being allowed only two thirds of their normal fuel load while short-haul airlines are being allocated half their requirements.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/ar...936715,00.html

[glassmanengland]

Singapore airlines fly 3 times a day from heathrow to Singapore.
Just checked their website. The morning and late evening flights are unaffected. The early evening flight(The one I have booked naturally) is diverting via frankfurt with a delay time of 1hr 45 mins. It lands in Singapore at 16.40 instead of 15.00. Connecting flight to HKT 18.45. This leaves 2 hours but it will be pushin it if any further delays.Could be spendin the first night in singapore

[faultytowers]

Originally Posted by stevem

Just be aware that you maybe arriving late into your transfer point.

I guess I'll be lucky this trip as I am flying Emirates , no problem refuelling in Dubai , they never run short.

Also , with a 6 hour wait in Bangkok for my "connecting" flight , I not in that much of a rush.

[dizbuster]

Originally Posted by faultytowers

I guess I'll be lucky this trip as I am flying Emirates , no problem refuelling in Dubai , they never run short.

Also , with a 6 hour wait in Bangkok for my "connecting" flight , I not in that much of a rush.

Errrm, what about the bit that gets you to Dubai ?? I doubt if planes with fly with a "double-load" i.e. enough to get from Dubai to London and back to Dubai without refuelling. Probably best to check with the airline (or travel agent).

[faultytowers]

Originally Posted by dizbuster

Errrm, what about the bit that gets you to Dubai ?? I doubt if planes with fly with a "double-load" i.e. enough to get from Dubai to London and back to Dubai without refuelling. Probably best to check with the airline (or travel agent).

Will do diz , but this seems to mainly effect "long haul" flights(ie South Africa , LOS etc) , so hopefully my 6 hour trip won't be affected.

[dizbuster]

Fingers crossed I suppose I'm too much of a "make sure just in case" person.

[the bigboy]

Originally Posted by stevem

Anyone flying from London check that you have enough time in Bangkok or Singapore, as airlines are rerouting flights due to the shortage of aviation fuel caused by the fire.

can't they fly on gin

[erik1]

Originally Posted by dizbuster

Errrm, what about the bit that gets you to Dubai ?? I doubt if planes with fly with a "double-load" i.e. enough to get from Dubai to London and back to Dubai without refuelling. Probably best to check with the airline (or travel agent).

actually ethiad backflights from bkk to AD and AD to london has been reorganised
just had my tickets changed to avoid 10 hours waiting on AD

[stevem]

That was the main purpose of the post not to scare folks, but make them think about checking with the airline involved.

If anyone is flying Qantas

QF2 is departing LHR 45 minutes earlier, arriving BKK 30 minutes late
QF10 is departing same time, arriving SIN 75 minutes late

Both stopping in STN

[Allybabba22]

Originally Posted by stevem

That was the main purpose of the post not to scare folks, but make them think about checking with the airline involved.

If anyone is flying Qantas

QF2 is departing LHR 45 minutes earlier, arriving BKK 30 minutes late
QF10 is departing same time, arriving SIN 75 minutes late

Both stopping in STN

Just seen this, And I fly with Thai air from Heathrow on the 28th, Does anyone know if these flights will be affected, Not that it really matters as I have a 6hr+ stopover in Bkk Airport and could be more if my Air Asia flight gets delayed

[stevem]

Originally Posted by Allybabba22

Just seen this, And I fly with Thai air from Heathrow on the 28th, Does anyone know if these flights will be affected, Not that it really matters as I have a 6hr+ stopover in Bkk Airport and could be more if my Air Asia flight gets delayed

Just checked and it appears that Thai flights are operating as normal. I wonder how they are getting their full fuel.

[dogfaceboy]

flew in on British Airways LHR-BKK 2 days ago - all on schedule, no delays, arrived in on time.

[Coolhand]

Originally Posted by stevem

Just checked and it appears that Thai flights are operating as normal. I wonder how they are getting their full fuel.

Probably syphoning it out of other planes

[stevem]

Originally Posted by Coolhand

Probably syphoning it out of other planes

Perhaps they have imported a troupe of BG's for the refuellers??

[stevem]

Originally Posted by Allybabba22

Just seen this, And I fly with Thai air from Heathrow on the 28th, Does anyone know if these flights will be affected, Not that it really matters as I have a 6hr+ stopover in Bkk Airport and could be more if my Air Asia flight gets delayed

It appears that Thai are stopping in Copenhagen for fuel.

[Allybabba22]

Originally Posted by stevem

It appears that Thai are stopping in Copenhagen for fuel.

Ok Stevem, You seem to know a lot about these flights and I know jack shit to be honest, Or even where to start to look and see are my flight times changed, So if you get a chance can you see has my flight time being changed?

Or let us know how I go about doing it

PS: I depart from Dublin on....

Flight no: BMI BD120 on the 28th Dec at 6.45am - Arrive (LHR) at 8.10am

I depart (LHR)...

Flight no: TG911 - 28th Dec at 11.50am - Arrive (BKK) at 6.10am (29th Dec)

Thanks in advance for any info you have or even point me in the right direction