Heavy snowfalls have caused delays to flights and parcel deliveries across parts of northern Europetoday and over the past few days, with UK operations reported to be the most severely affected,
although the major UK parcel operators said they were continuing to operate pick-up and deliveryservices to most areas.East Midlands Airport (EMA), a UK hub airport for DHL Express, UPS and TNT Express, wasclosed last night, but reopened at 14.00 today. At the time of writing, Norwich, Leeds Bradford andRobin Hood Doncaster airports remained closed, while other UK airports were experiencing varyingdegrees of flight disruption.
Long-haul hub airport Heathrow said around 10 per cent of its flights had been cancelledtoday, an improvement on the 20 per cent cancellation level yesterday. Stansted Airport, used byFedEx as a UK air express hub, was said to be “open and operational”, while the other main southernEnglish airport, Gatwick, was said to be operating as normal, although expecting some delays fromdisruption at other airports.
A UPS spokeswoman told CEP Research that the company had responded to the closure of EMA byredirecting flights from its main Cologne European hub “to alternative UK airports, and used its UKroad network to get packages to their intended destination”. She added: “UPS’s integrated air andground network is highly flexible, allowing us to be responsive to adverse conditions, includingairport closures.”
A DHL Express spokesman told CEP-Research that it had re-routed one of its EMA flights lastnight, and that a couple of flights had experienced delays, although the closure at EMA hadhappened during the relatively quiet weekend period for express operators, limiting the impact ofthe closure.
UPS said the situation across Europe was “very fluid”, with conditions changing constantly.The UPS spokeswoman added: “While the severe weather that parts of Europe are experiencing isresulting in some service delays, the vast majority of shipments are being picked up and deliveredon time. The biggest impact is being experienced in the UK.”
She said UK customers should refer to the current service updates at the UPS UK website,adding: “UPS is doing its utmost and has contingency plans in place to ensure that customersreceive their parcels as soon as possible.” UPS’s UK website reported that severe snow and iceconditions were causing collection and delivery disruptions throughout parts of the UK, and thatalthough UPS was “making every reasonable attempt to ensure our customers receive their packages ontime”, many shipments would not be collected or delivered due to the hazardous road conditions,listing specific post code areas that were currently affected.
UK Mail reported that heavy snowfalls and freezing temperatures over large parts of the UK,which continued over the weekend and into today, meant that driving conditions were hazardous andthat some roads remained closed. “Whilst most main routes are fairly gritted and clear, conditionsin the side streets and residential areas just off those main routes remain challenging for ourdrivers,” the company said. “In most cases, these streets have not been gritted and it is difficultto get all the way to the delivery point.”
UK Mail said it had prepared its operations well in advance of severe weather and was “takingevery step to maintain service provision throughout the country. This included working fully overthe weekend in any affected areas to provide service. Currently, that planning has provedsuccessful with only isolated postcodes experiencing any delay, these mostly being due to theinaccessibility.”
The company said specific postcode disruption details could be obtained from itscustomer-care teams, although in general terms: Scotland remains largely unaffected;North-west and north-east England’s main routes are said to be “OK”, but with “someisolated postcode issues in side roads”. However, UK Mail said heavy snowfalls are forecastfor north-east England area over the next few days, with Sheffield, Leeds, Huddersfield, Teesside,York and Newcastle expected to be affected. The Midlands and south-east England remainslargely unaffected apart, from some isolated issues in side roads.
UK Mail said south-west England and Wales was experiencing “some residual postcodeissues from the severe weather last Friday, in the whole of Mid and South Wales and also Bath.” Itsaid snow was forecast for this area again tomorrow. The company added: “The situation isconstantly changing. However, the message for today so far is that all consignments are out fordelivery or were delivered during the weekend operation. Of course, we have challenging conditions,which may inevitably mean that some postcodes are inaccessible and so service on these mayexperience a delay.”
UK home-delivery parcel specialist Yodel said that despite the bad weather, its contingencyplans had ensured Yodel’s continued service. “All of our sort and service centres and holdingfacilities have a minimum stock level of rock salt, snow shovels, ice melt, de-icer and scrapers,and all sites have been gritted. We also have snow-ploughs that fit to forklift trucks inorder to keep the yards at our sort centres free from snow.”
A spokesman told CEP-Research that additional time had been allowed for trunking to ensureon-time collections from customers’ warehouses and arrival at the company’s sort centres. “OurCentral Operations Control Centre is working closely with our clients, providing them with regularupdates throughout each day, including details of any inaccessible postcodes,” he added. “Weare also liaising with retailers to ensure that their own processes are in place to ensure thatshoppers expectations are being managed.
“There are some parts of the UK where it is not possible for us to deliver due to the extremeweather conditions. As soon as the weather clears we will resume these routes and, where we areunable to deliver, parcels are being securely stored and date-stamped to ensure a controlled ‘first in, first out’ (FIFO) process. He said retailers using the group’s ‘CollectPlus’ service alsoallowed shoppers in potentially inaccessible areas to select their local shop as an alternative,convenient delivery point.
A DHL Express spokesman told CEP-Research: “Our flight operations have beenminimally affected, as we have been able to implement contingencies in the case of any delaysor cancellations over the weekend. However, due to the heavy snow and icy conditions in selectedareas of some European countries – specifically, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, NorthernFrance and Central and Northern UK – some delays are being experienced withpick-up and delivery services. We are monitoring the situation closely and will resume service assoon as we can access these areas.”
TNT Express told CEP-Research that it had experienced some minor delays, but had operated allflights. “TNT Express has put four new de-icing trucks into service in Liege, in addition to thesix used last winter,” said a spokesman. “With the new trucks, we are able to de-ice the aircraftmore quickly and more efficiently.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Paris airports Charles de Galle and Orly have been forced to cancelaround 40 per cent of flights.
