BMI has confirmed it is considering legal action against airport operator BAA over the pre-Christmas closure of Heathrow.
Virgin Atlantic is also considering action against BAA after the UK’s biggest airport was shut for four days by snow.
Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief executive of Lufthansa-owned BMI, said: “We are assessing the legal situation and keep all options open.” BMI is the second-biggest airline at Heathrow.
The four-day closure of the airport is estimated to have cost airlines more than £100 milllion. British Airways alone put the bill at £50 million, although the carrier declined to comment on whether it would seek compensation.
BAA has conceded it was insufficiently prepared for the snow despite advance warnings, acknowledging it had inadequate stocks of de-icer and equipment and failed to close the airport early enough to get aircraft away before they froze at landing gates.
Other major airports were closed by snow over the holiday period – including Frankfurt and, after Christmas, New York JFK. But the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority is understood to consider the length of the Heathrow shutdown excessive.
The government has said it is considering a change in regulation to penalise airport owners for failing to deal adequately with adverse conditions.