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Snow, ice trap passengers in Europe's airports

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11 Comments
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The whole Europe went in the freezer and in Greece we have 20 C. Even the climate is strange here.

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I bet some people don't want to hear the christmas tune from Frank Sinatra "let it snow, let is snow" any more.

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At least the Greeks can save money on heating costs this winter. Good for them. @Antonios Καλά Χριστούγεννα

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Well I hope they were wishing for a white Christmas. Seems they got it.

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Poor people, but what can you do? At least the one good thing in all this is that they are trapped together. While conditions like this -- when you desperately want to go home -- can cause a lot of stress and frustration, they can also bring about the best in others suffering the same. I can see more than a few of them wishing each other a Merry Christmas, complaining together of drinks (if they can get them there), and trying to make the situation a little more festive.

Good luck getting out as soon as you can. While it may not seem like one, I wish you all a Merry Christmas (and all on JT as well).

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@Cities such as London and Paris, not as accustomed to flying planes in below-freezing temperatures as say Moscow or Stockholm, buckled under the snow.

Europe's usually benign winter climate is due to the gulf stream and normal south west air currents. However at 52 degrees north latitude (same as central Sakhilin) they should expect some severe winter weather and prepare. London Heathrow airport made a pre tax profit of about 1.5 billion USD last year but spent only just over a Million on snow and de-icing equip.

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A quick look around the internet shows Charles de Gaulle airport - privately owned. Brussels airport - privately owned. Dublin airport - state owned but run on a commercial basis. Dusseldorf appears to be 50/50 state/ private, with one of the private owners being Dublin airport! Meanwhile Manchester airport, publicly owned has apparently had no shutdowns. Anybody else see a pattern.

Anyways maybe people will wake up to the fact that they have been sold a load of BS. Privatization is not the right vs. left, private vs. public battle it has been sold as. Infrastructure is not a business, if it was a business then it wouldn't be infrastructure in the first place to then be privatized. Business would have built it. Infrastructure is the necessary stuff which can't be built or operated at a profit by the private sector (unless of course you don't buy any deicing fluid he he).

The idea that there is any ideological basis behind privatization is a total scam and con. It is just ignoring basic rules of business and economics in order to line somebody's pockets.

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GJDailleult,

I agree 100%. An airport's purpose should be to provide a service to the public, not to put profits into the coffers of some corporation.

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At least the Greeks can save money on heating costs this winter. Good for them. @Antonios Καλά Χριστούγεννα

Haha...good point, Foxie! Καλά Χριστούγεννα και σε σένα! Merry Christmas!

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I would love to hear Al Gore's insight into the unusually code weather in Europe that is causing so many travel delays. I would venture to guess that he would state that the colder it gets, the more it proves that 'the planet has a fever.' By the way, where is Al Gore these days? He doesn't seem to get out in public all that much anymore. If I had to guess, I would think that he is likely snowed-in one of his mansions in Tennessee given the unusually severe winter weather that is currently being experienced on America's east coast.

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Careful GJ, next thing you know you'll be labeled a leftist and a socialist for suggesting the marketplace achieves anything other than the optimal results at all times. Some people aren't aware of the implications of the free rider problem or Greenspan's testimony after the financial crisis.

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