European travel headaches continue

A small number of departing flights, but no incoming, were expected at London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday as crews worked to clear runways of snow and ice.

Thousands of people spent the night at the airport after snowy weather grounded travel plans across much of Europe.

Heathrow is Air Canada's biggest international destination and about 20 flights have been delayed or cancelled. The airport's decision not to accept arrivals affected flights departing from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

Airports in Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland and the Netherlands were also reporting significant cancellations or delays on Sunday, the third day of travel disruptions due to the weather.

About 40 per cent of flights were cancelled at the Frankfurt airport and at Paris's Charles de Gaulle. London's Gatwick Airport has reopened, but widespread disruptions were expected.

Many airplane passengers slept in makeshift dormitories at Charles de Gaulle and at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

At Heathrow, people slept in all five terminals. There were scores of complaints about inept or unresponsive airport and airline staff, the heating being switched off automatically at midnight, and blankets running out.

Stranded passengers were told to phone their carrier, but in many cases the phones just rang and nobody answered.