Why have flights been stopped?

BBC says 50 flights were cancelled yesterday due to power cut.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Manchester | Cancelled flights after power cut

Ladybird said:

Im putting this under general so more folks can read it. Im helping a bride prepare for her wedding in Cabarete in a couple of days and she has just been informed that her family cant get here with her dress, bridesmaid dresses etc because flights from the UK have been cancelled, it may be because of the foot and mouth outbreak but I cant get any sure reasons. My question is does anyone know how long this is likely to last as she needs to know whether to cancel/prospone her wedding.

Please no sarky remarks shes very upset.

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Have you found out which tour company the relations were going to use? Have you rung their offices here to establish what the delay is & how long it is likely to last (IF it affects the airport they are coming from)!??

Which tour company is it? Do you need their Tel. No. or want me to ring them?

I am sure the tour company will have much more up-to-date information than we are likely to have & you can then pacify your friend/client's fears much more quickly & effectively!

I hope it was just a power problem & will be all sorted out by the morning! ~ Grahame.
(Jings. I knew the UK was going down hill but AIRPORTS not paying their power bills?? I hear also that the Postal services are getting very 'iffy' too!).

I have just checked with two tour companies.
Thomson's have no reports of any problems - all flights arrived on time mtoday.
My Travel had problems with flights out of Manchester YESTERDAY but this has been resolved (I am informed) & all guests delayed yesterday have now landed in the country!!!!!!!

Where's the fire?? This IS the Dominican Republic & normally things take a couple of hours longer at around lunch time to sort out. ~ Grahame.

You've got to have sympathy for the relatives: there they are in UK with a foot & mouth outbreak and all over their news (print, radio & TV) is the 'killer bug' problem in DR. They probably don't know which way to turn.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/north-coast/65255-sickness-bp-san-juan.html

Ladybird said:

Im helping a bride prepare for her wedding in Cabarete in a couple of days and she has just been informed that her family cant get here with her dress, bridesmaid dresses etc because flights from the UK have been cancelled, it may be because of the foot and mouth outbreak but I cant get any sure reasons.

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Did the family arrive 'In Time' after all Ladybird? Did the wedding go ahead as originally planned?

Seems to me that there was a fair bit of miscommunication going on in this family. The flights were just 'from Manchester' (not nationwide as indicated) 'delayed' whilst the blackout was repaired & all flights flown in the following day! I am intrigued as to which part of the family was passing on the duff information.

Looking at the weather for the past couple of days, it looks as though the "Manchester Crowd" have arrived - overcast & pretty miserable!! I hope the wedding has a dry day! ~ Grahame.

Ladybird said:

Thank you BB and thank you Lambada, the one thing you did not take into account is the backlog from the flights from the UK that were cancelled. All flights from the UK are fully booked because of school holidays. Because of the "air space" slots allocated, those flights that were cancelled cannot be replaced. The dresses are arriving by other means next Friday. It would have been nice if you could have given "her away" BB, most dignified, if I may say, and Lambadas' hat would have put mine to shame. I have helped her with other stand-ins ( I have told her to wait, because love will continue whatever) but at the end of the day it is THEIR special day. Lambada is right the family are full of pain.

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Well, I am now very confused about this situation.

I do not like giving erroneous information at ANY time & will correct myself (with apologies) when I realise I have given duff info. So, to ensure that what I had written was correct, I went back to the ONLY tour company that had flights coming out of Manchester that day (or so they inform me) & checked the information about 'delayed/cancelled/unable to be re-slotted' flight on that day. It appears the flight WAS only delayed, the flight WAS rescheduled & ALL travellers booked on the flight were landed in Puerto Plata ........ according to My Travel 12.15pm 13/08/07!

Now I know Ladybird would not DREAM of telling terminological inexactitudes to members of this forum so someone, somewhere, is not telling her the truth. Could it be the person she is trying to help? Or maybe the family members for some reason? Maybe the Tour company is trying to cover up something which would be even more sinister!! If you get the chance Ladybird, let me know the tour company (it HAS to be My Travel if they were the only one out of Manchester that day), confirm the date of flight & flight number the relatives were supposed to fly on (names of family would help greatly too if possible) & I will investigate more fully who is telling the fibs here.

As I say, I HATE giving wrong information on this board & will go to the ends of the earth to find out the truth when what I have stated appears to be in error. ~ Grahame.