Recent occurrences have seen winter weather interrupt airports all across the world. While some countries are more accustomed to severe weather (and better prepared to deal with it) than others, winter storms can frequently cause operational disruption regardless of where they occur.
The start of 2025 was challenging for airports in Germany, the UK, and the US due to adverse weather conditions.
Passengers often find it frustrating when flights are delayed or canceled owing to factors beyond everyone’s control, such as weather.
As a result, in order to limit such inconvenience wherever feasible, airlines and airports around the world have plans in place to deal with the effects of winter storms in ways that, hopefully, will reduce operational disruption. Let’s look at some of these elements.
Deicing has a significant role.
For passengers who are accustomed to flying in freezing temperatures, the presence of de-icing equipment indicates that it is a colder-than-average day.
These customized vehicles spray aircraft with a specific (sometimes brightly colored) fluid that prevents ice from accumulating on the plane’s control surfaces. This can occur both at the gate and at specific points along the taxiway leading to the runway.
At first glance, de-icing an airplane appears to be a very straightforward procedure in which truck operators spray fluid into the appropriate parts of the plane.
According to DTN, different fluids and treatments are used for various types of ice, including snow, frost, and freezing rain. Once the appropriate treatment has been determined, timing is also important.
Indeed, airport ground crews must choose their timing carefully when de-icing an aircraft, as doing so too early will result in the procedure having to be repeated due to the potential of a new build-up of ice.
On the other hand, although leaving it late ensures that an aircraft’s control surfaces are sufficiently clean of ice, it also risks delays at a time when operations may already be disrupted.
In February 1958, the Munich Air Disaster occurred when a British European Airways plane carrying the Manchester United football team crashed during takeoff due to ice on the aircraft.
However, it was eventually determined that the primary cause of the crash was slush on the runway, which the plane encountered while moving too quickly to abort yet too slowly to take off.
Clearing runways
With this in mind, keeping the runways clear of ice and snow is critical to guaranteeing safe operations during winter weather.
DTN observes that there is also a careful line to be struck here, as, while snowy runways obviously need cleaning, jumping the gun with “unnecessary runway treatments [wastes] money and resources, as well as [causing] avoidable environmental damage.”
Keeping runways and control surfaces clean of snow and ice frequently goes hand in hand, which can present logistical issues at airports that do not get much snow.
The World Meteorological Organization adds that “de-icing combined with runway clearance is a major challenge to airport management and can cause significant delays at airports experiencing few snowfall events.”
Another reason why airports that don’t get much snow struggle to handle winter storms is because temperatures are often only barely below freezing, rather than tens of degrees lower.Manchester Airport, which has experienced its fair share of wintery delays at the beginning of 2025, notes that:
“Snow is wetter at freezing point because not all of it is frozen. This means it transforms into slush and ice, which are more slippery and difficult to remove. When the temperature is less than -2 degrees Celsius, the snow is drier and powderier, making it easier to clear or blow away.”
Manchester Airport has around 30 dedicated ground vehicles for clearing severe snow, and over 180 staff are trained to utilize them.
The facility’s machinery includes “tractors that can be equipped with a range of attachments including ploughs and brushes, and combined jet blowers that are fitted with ploughs, blowers and brushes.”
Closure is sometimes essential.
When snow accumulates to a specific depth at an airport, a runway may need to be closed so that the facility’s dedicated fleet of vehicles can clear it.
This is an important safety precaution that prevents aircraft and ground vehicles from colliding on the same landing strip in already difficult conditions. The i6 Group emphasizes the importance of safety, stating that
“Just as pilots are trained to fly in hazardous conditions, ground staff should also be taught to operate their vehicles. Airport workers should get complete training in safe driving skills, danger awareness, and emergency procedures in harsh weather circumstances, with an emphasis on keeping vehicle control and avoiding risky moves.”
Washington National Airport (DCA) in the US recently closed its runways to clear heavy snow on the surface.
In Germany, Munich Airport (MUC) approved flights one at a time, allowing for single-runway operations with delays. However, smaller facilities in the UK with only one runway had to halt aircraft entirely when clearing.
De-icing isn’t limited to planes.
When most people think of de-icing processes at commercial airports across the world, they probably see brilliant spray being thrown onto an aircraft’s control surfaces. However, did you know that airports use de-icing treatments on their runways and taxiways as a preventive safety measure during severe winter weather? A very elegant solution!
Airport walkways, car parks, and railway station platforms, like roadways, can be treated with grit and salt to keep passengers and personnel safe.
However, this approach cannot be utilized on an airport’s apron, taxiways, or runways since the corrosive nature of the sand and salt used may cause aircraft damage. Manchester Airport then explains:
“The runways are treated with deicing fluid to keep them from freezing. The surface is also slightly grooved to improve traction for planes when wet or icy. The de-icing procedure will keep some snow from accumulating, although this may still happen in heavy weather.”
According to i6, the fluids employed during these operations are glycol-based. While applying de-icing fluid to these surfaces “prevents snow from bonding to the pavement,” it is not the sole fluid-based remedy to winter weather on airport grounds.
Indeed, the i6 Group mentions anti-icing solution, which can be “applied during or after snowfall to melt snow and ice.”
Air traffic control constraints.
Given that winter storms make flying conditions difficult for planes taking off and landing at a certain airport, this must also be considered when making decisions about air traffic control management. Winter weather can cause aircraft spacing to increase by 50%, reducing capacity by around a third, according to the BBC.
Airports “[going] into a kind of slow mot
ion,” as travel expert Simon Calder told the BBC, may have a huge knock-on effect at busier hubs. Increased spacing at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) on a winter weekend affected around 75,000 passengers. However, as is typically the case in modern aircraft, safety must come first.
Such scenarios can also result in a heavier workload for ATC workers at airports that are much further distant from those affected by bad winter weather.
Indeed, with runway closures and greater aircraft spacing frequently prompting in diversions, the BBC reported that Manchester-bound flights ended up as far away as Dublin and Paris. As a result, controllers at other airports should be ready to cope with the effects of inclement weather at facilities elsewhere.
Be prepared.
Special weather response teams are stationed at airports where severe winter weather and snowstorms are common to coordinate the management of such events. Zurich Airport (ZRH) in Switzerland has a ‘Snow Committee’ that oversees winter operations including aircraft de-icing, as reported by DTN.
According to TAV Technologies, airports should have contingency plans in place to handle operations and reroute passengers and cargo.
Furthermore, the website emphasizes the necessity for airports to collaborate with airlines and other organizations to personalize their replies. Winter storms demand a lot of effort, but keeping everyone safe is the most important thing.