Dramatic footage shows firefighters spraying down the plane at Copenhagen Airport, Denmark, not long after it arrived from London. The crew and passengers were rushed off the plane while emergency services fought the blaze.
Videos circulating on social media show a crowd of passengers in an airport waiting room watching the firefighters fight the fire.
The return flight to London has been canceled as a result of what happened.
Police in Denmark said the plane was evacuated after a fire broke out in one of its engines.
They tweeted: “A fire broke out in an engine of a passenger plane that had stopped at the gate. The fire is out. Passengers evacuated. No one injured.”
The latest incident comes against a backdrop of mounting frustration over long queues at airports and airlines canceling flights.
British Airways (BA) announced Tuesday that it will cancel a further 10,300 short-haul flights until the end of October.
The move brings the airline’s cancellation rate to 13 percent this summer.
BA has been one of the worst affected airlines in terms of schedule disruption in recent months as the airline industry faces increasing demand and staff shortages following the easing of travel restrictions by Covid.
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In a statement, the airline said it was not where it wanted to be but believed the cuts were the right thing to do for its customers and colleagues.
It said: “The entire aviation industry continues to face significant challenges and we are fully focused on building resilience in our operation to give customers the security they deserve. The government recently decided to provide the entire sector with lock lighting to possible disruption this summer.
“While taking further action isn’t where we wanted it to be, it’s the right choice for our customers and our colleagues. This new flexibility means we can further trim our schedule and consolidate some of our quieter services so we can get as much potentially protect customers.” make our holiday flights possible.”
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BA’s statement added that while most of its flights will remain unaffected and the majority of customers will get away as planned, the airline is not underestimating the impact of its move.
It continued: “We are doing everything we can to get their travel plans back on track. We have been in touch to apologize and to offer rebooking options for new flights with us or another airline or to request a replacement as soon as possible. to make a full refund.”
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel, said the latest blow was a “scathing indictment” of BA’s failure to manage its summer flight schedule.
He said: “This latest wave of flight cancellations is a damning indictment of BA’s mismanagement of its summer flight schedule. BA has continued to promote and sell flights it has been unable to fulfill, even as thousands of customers have been dealing with the chaos of cancellations.”
“Which? BA recently reported to the Civil Aviation Authority that it failed to inform passengers of their right to compensation and not divert customers as soon as possible. The CAA should take action if BA fails to comply with its legal obligations during this latest round of cancellations.”
Meanwhile, BA has hired a new chief of operations as flight cancellations continue to rise.
Rene de Groot, who currently heads operations at Dutch airline KLM, will join BA as Chief Operating Officer (COO) on October 1.
He joined KLM in 1990 as a pilot and continues to fly for the airline.
Airlines have until Friday to take advantage of a government scheme that allows them to cancel summer flights without losing future rights to valuable airport take-off and landing slots.
BA announced in April that it was splitting its operating structure into technical and operational roles. Current COO Jason Mahoney will assume the position of Chief Technical Officer.
EasyJet, which has also been hit hard by cancellations, said goodbye to its own COO Peter Bellew on Monday.