In order to avoid a repetition of the disasters of previous years when Heathrow airport had to close for several days due to heavy snow, the BAA (British Airport Authority) commissioned Ineco and Ferroser in a joint venture to draw up a plan for heavy snow conditions which will ensure that the London airport continues to operate in adverse weather conditions.
Heathrow is London’s main airport and is the largest international traffic hub in the world. It operates at almost full capacity for 18 hours and continues to operate overnight for a 6 hour period. Over 65 million passengers per year pass through its 5 terminals.
Due to this high demand, any serious incident may mean that the airport has to cancel some flights which in turn has a knock-on effect, leading to subsequent problems coping with the passenger traffic. Following heavy snowfall in 2010, which brought the airport to a standstill, the BBA implemented a series of studies to prevent this situation from recurring.
The resulting analyses led to the Winter Resilience Programme, a project designed to develop 14 key recommendations for ensuring that the disastrous scenario would never be repeated.
The Heathrow project benefited from the lessons learned in Madrid and enabled Ineco to implement projects resulting from the Madrid-Barajas experience which were crucial given their repercussion or the time taken to implement them.