LONDON Airports operator BAA said it would invest 50 million pounds in better winter defences after a report criticised its response to the snow-induced chaos at London's Heathrow airport last year.
An inquiry into BAA's handling of the big freeze accused the operator of "failures in communication" and a lack of "preparedness" and said it had to prove it could keep Europe's busiest airport running, even in extreme circumstances.
Heavy snowfall paralysed Heathrow in December, leading to a spate of flight cancellations after runways were closed due to snowfall and freezing conditions.
The BAA commissioned inquiry, chaired by David Begg, a BAA non-executive director, made 14 recommendations regarding BAA's future readiness to cope with severe weather.
Begg said BAA, which is majority owned by Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial, needed to simplify Heathrow's crisis management procedures, create a central control centre to help it better communicate with airlines and passengers and ensure it has sufficient snow-clearing equipment.
"It will take around 50 million pounds of investment to implement what are quite bold and hard hitting recommendations," BAA's Chief Executive Colin Matthews said in an interview.
Matthews said BAA had already spent some 10 million pounds on new snow clearing equipment and that it would take "a couple of years" to implement all of the suggestions.
Begg recommended that BAA work closely with airlines and aviation bodies operating at Heathrow to better co-ordinate their operational decisions and create an enhanced "snow plan."
"It is now critical that a process is established for properly analysing, structuring and prioritising the report's main recommendations and then implementing rapidly," British carrier Virgin Atlantic said in a statement.
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