Heavy snowfall may disrupt flights today

Heavy snowfall has been forecast for southern Finland on Monday, which is likely to result in serious disruptions in flight operations, said Finavia that operators the country’s airports.

As there will be heavy snowfall from early morning to late evening on Monday, passengers are requested to prepare for at least some delays and to follow the notifications of their airlines, said a Finavia press release.

Airlines adapt their traffic plans accordingly and may cancel some of their flights, while the national flag carrier Finnair has already cancelled 19 flights scheduled for the day.

“...heavy snowfall is likely to cause operating restrictions at Helsinki Airport on Monday, 2 April. To enable smooth traffic in difficult conditions, Finnair has delayed some flight departures by 15 minutes-2 hours on Monday and 19 return flights will also be cancelled,” said a Finnair press release.

In spite of the windy and snowy weather, Finavia has assured all to do its best to keep the runways open and operations running as smoothly as possible. Finavia said its world famous snow patrol is ready to remove the snow from the runways in 11 minutes.

However, for safety reasons and due to strong wind or low visibility, the scope for landings and takeoffs of flights may become limited, said Finavia, adding that such limitations would decrease the airport’s traffic capacity and thus cause delays in arrivals and departures.

Also, heavy snowfall often slows down the loading and unloading operations as well as de-icing of the planes. The ground handling companies at Helsinki Airport are preparing for this and will do their best to guarantee as punctual operations as possible, the Finavia press release added.