Business and leisure travellers faced an unwelcome Bonfire-Night surprise on 5 November when thick fog descended on north-east Scotland, forcing Aberdeen International Airport (ABZ) to cancel or delay at least seven flights. British Airways services to London-Heathrow and London-City were scrubbed, while KLM diverted Amsterdam-bound flight KL913 to Edinburgh and bussed passengers north. Regional carrier Loganair also warned of cascading knock-on delays.
The disruption came during a peak travel week for energy-sector commuters shuttling between Aberdeen and London and for offshore workers transferring to helicopter bases at Dyce. Because Aberdeen is a spoke airport, missed connections ripple through the UK network: passengers bound for onward long-haul flights from Heathrow lost protected connections, and cargo operators had to re-route time-critical oil-and-gas equipment.
![Dense fog grounds flights at Aberdeen Airport, disrupting UK domestic and international connections]()
Air-traffic management agency NATS reported visibility below 300 metres for much of the morning, triggering low-visibility procedures and effectively halving runway capacity. Although conditions improved by mid-afternoon, carriers were forced to find spare aircraft – KLM up-gauged to a Boeing 737-900 – and crew to clear backlogs, leading to residual delays well into the evening.
For corporate-travel managers the incident is a reminder to build flexibility into travel policies during autumn-winter operations, when fog can ground small regional airports with limited instrument-landing capabilities. Companies should review duty-of-care protocols for staff stranded overnight and ensure tickets are booked on interlineable fares that allow re-routing via Glasgow or Edinburgh at short notice.
While weather-related, the event will feed into the wider debate on UK regional connectivity. Business groups again called on the government to accelerate rail upgrades between Aberdeen and the Central Belt to reduce reliance on short-haul flights that are vulnerable to weather shocks and future environmental levies.
The disruption came during a peak travel week for energy-sector commuters shuttling between Aberdeen and London and for offshore workers transferring to helicopter bases at Dyce. Because Aberdeen is a spoke airport, missed connections ripple through the UK network: passengers bound for onward long-haul flights from Heathrow lost protected connections, and cargo operators had to re-route time-critical oil-and-gas equipment.
Air-traffic management agency NATS reported visibility below 300 metres for much of the morning, triggering low-visibility procedures and effectively halving runway capacity. Although conditions improved by mid-afternoon, carriers were forced to find spare aircraft – KLM up-gauged to a Boeing 737-900 – and crew to clear backlogs, leading to residual delays well into the evening.
For corporate-travel managers the incident is a reminder to build flexibility into travel policies during autumn-winter operations, when fog can ground small regional airports with limited instrument-landing capabilities. Companies should review duty-of-care protocols for staff stranded overnight and ensure tickets are booked on interlineable fares that allow re-routing via Glasgow or Edinburgh at short notice.
While weather-related, the event will feed into the wider debate on UK regional connectivity. Business groups again called on the government to accelerate rail upgrades between Aberdeen and the Central Belt to reduce reliance on short-haul flights that are vulnerable to weather shocks and future environmental levies.
