Easyjet 'to sue over snow losses'

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Easyjet claims the council and the airport failed in their duties

Budget airline Easyjet is planning to sue Luton Airport and Luton Borough Council for £1m over disruption caused by the recent snow.

Easyjet says it lost money through the airport closure and cancelled flights.

The airline claims the council failed in its duty to keep the roads open around the airport, meaning cabin crews were not able to get to work.

The council and airport said they did everything they could to minimise the impact of the snow on 6 February.

Easyjet is seeking £500,000 from the council and £500,000 from the airport.

Easyjet says there was a lack of resources available at the airport to deal with the weather problems and poor communication between the airport and airline staff.

In a letter to the council, Easyjet's chief executive officer Andy Harrison claimed the council's failure to keep key roads open "resulted in our crews not being able to enter or exit the airport".

'Surprised and disappointed'

A Luton Borough Council spokeswoman said: "During the recent heavy snow the council fully discharged its statutory duty and took all reasonable steps to keep major routes open in the town, especially those to the airport.

"Snow ploughs and gritters were deployed throughout and staff worked round the clock throughout the whole period.

"On 6 February, a detailed outline of all the work that had been done with regard to airport access was sent to the operations director at Easyjet following an enquiry from them.

"This included full details of the severity of the conditions in the sub region which had led to closures on several major routes including the M1 and A505 leading into Luton.

"The letter also highlighted the fact we had kept all major roads open with the exception of closures owing to abandoned vehicles.

"We are therefore surprised and disappointed to have received this letter and we will be responding in due course."

A spokesperson for Luton Airport said: "Severe weather conditions earlier this month led to four feet of snow falling at London Luton Airport over a relatively short period of time.

"This level of snow fall is exceptional and the airport experienced considerable disruption to flights whilst the runway was cleared of snow.

"Every preparation was made to minimise the impact, however, for safety reasons, it became necessary to suspend flights at certain times."