Snow causes European travel chaos
PARIS - Travelers in Paris and Frankfurt slept at the airport after
snow and ice caused travel chaos. Pop singer Shakira canceled a concert
in Germany, while the French prime minister missed a gala at Moscow's
Bolshoi Theater.
Many European commuters suffered through traffic jams on slushy
streets Thursday, and Scotland even called in the army to clear the
snow. Flights out of Paris and Frankfurt were still delayed after bad
weather forced the temporary closing of airports a day earlier.
Paris, a city of frequent rain, is unprepared for snow. Amid
Wednesday's snowfall of 10 centimeters (4 inches), bus service was shut
down, traffic backed up, tourists were ushered out the Eiffel Tower and
Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport was forced to close for an hour and a
half.
Shakira canceled a Wednesday night concert in Frankfurt because she
couldn't take off from Paris, German news agency DAPD reported.
Concert organizers did not hear of the problem until an hour before
the concert, when they had to tell 11,000 fans already gathered in the
concert arena to head home. A spokesman for the concert organizers told
DAPD that a new date for early 2011 will be set soon.
Meanwhile, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon missed a special
gala by Russian and French dancers at the Bolshoi because of delays
leaving France. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin" no stranger to
snow " offered to have the Bolshoi re-run the event in Fillon's honor,
the RIA-Novosti news agency said.
On Thursday, delays of up to an hour persisted at Charles de Gaulle.
Some passengers huddled under blankets after a long night sleeping at
the airport.
"The airport last night was giving out towels, mattresses to sleep
on, water, and they were coming around constantly to see if everything
was OK," said Lynne Seavor, whose flight home to Britain's East Midlands
Airport was delayed by 24 hours.
The sun was out Thursday in Paris, melting snow off roofs. Sidewalks
were slick, and traffic was still badly disrupted.The Eiffel Tower's
first floor reopened to tourists, a day after it was entirely shut down.
Officials say they can't use salt there because it could cause damage to
the monument.
A combination of snow, rain and temperatures hovering right around
the freezing point caused traffic chaos in Germany, with hundreds of
accidents reported nationwide and scores of miles-long (kilometers-long)
traffic jams. One person died in a crash in Rhineland-Palatinate, along
the French border.
Airport officials said at least 650 flights were canceled in Germany,
including 200 in Berlin and 450 at Frankfurt, whose airport was shut
down for four hours overnight.
Air traffic control agency Eurocontrol said Berlin's Schoenefeld
airport will be closed for incoming flights until 8 a.m. (0700GMT) on
Friday as a result of a shortage of de-icing fluid.
Clariant, a Swiss specialty chemicals company that is one of Europe's
top makers of the liquid, said the unexpectedly quick onset of wintry
conditions had caused shortages across the continent.
"Winter has set in early and simultaneously across Europe. We even
got de-icing requests from Greece today," Clariant spokesman Ulrich Nies
said.
He said the company's only European production plant for the fluid in
southern Germany is operating around the clock â€" instead of during
business hours on regular days â€" to combat the shortages.
Ralf Kunkel, a Berlin airport spokesman, said the shortage of
de-icing fluid was "unique" in the history of the city's airports, "and
it's absolutely annoying." Scotland, meanwhile, called in the army
Thursday to help clear snow and ice after the heaviest snowfall since
1963 paralyzed the country's capital.
The army will also work to remove snow and ice from roads. Parts of
the country have not seen a positive temperature reading for nearly two
weeks.
- AP
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