"I am extremely concerned about the level of disruption to travel across Europe caused by severe snow. It is unacceptable and should not happen again," European transport commissioner Siim Kallas said in a statement.

Kallas said he would convene a meeting with airport officials in the coming days to get more explanations and "take a hard look" at what is needed to ensure they can operate more effectively during winter weather in the future.

"Airports must get serious about planning for this kind of severe weather conditions," he said.

"We have seen in recent years that snow is Western Europe is not such an exceptional circumstance," Kallas said.

"Better preparedness, in line with what is done in Northern Europe is not an optional extra, it must be planned for and with the necessary investment, particularly on the side of the airports."

The European Union transport chief said the commission would be ready to propose legislation next year if needed to ensure that airports meet minimum service requirements.

"First I want to hear the views of the airport operators and the different practices in place across Europe. We must look at the issue across the whole travel chain and make sure possible loopholes and weak links are identified and closed," he said.

Thousands of holiday travelers have been forced to sleep at several European airports and train stations in recent days as authorities struggled with an onslaught of snow and ice ahead of Christmas.

On Tuesday, London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, was only operating about a third of its normal schedule during a fourth day of disruption, while Frankfurt halted all flights after a new blanketing of snow.

Kallas said the commission, the EU's executive arm, was monitoring the situation very closely and was in constant touch with airlines, airports, rail operators and national authorities in charge of passenger rights.

"In recent days, I have become increasingly concerned about the problems relating to the infrastructure available to airlines -- airports and ground handling -- during this severe period of snow," Kallas said.

"It seems at this stage that this is a weak link in a chain which, under pressure, is contributing to severe disruption," he said.

earlier related report
Heathrow snow chaos shames Britain, say travellers
London (AFP) Dec 21, 2010 - Passenger Alexander Valdarama has spent the last two nights sleeping on the floor at Heathrow airport on a foam mattress hand-out.

"It's been a terrible experience. I've been flying for more than 20 years and something like this has never happened," said Valdarama, from Manila in the Philippines, told AFP.

He spent his first night in a hotel paid for by the airline but the taxi there cost him 90 pounds (140 dollars, 106 euros) so for the last two nights the floor has been his only option.

Valdarama is just one of thousands stranded at the airport, and whether they hail from Asia, Africa, Europe or the Americas, all agree that the chaos is the worst they have seen anywhere.

The 47-year-old seaman has been sleeping at Heathrow's flagship Terminal 5, which caters mainly for British Airways, since the cancellation on Saturday of his flight to Belgium, where he was due to join a ship's crew.

In sharp contrast however to the chaotic scenes at the weekend when blizzards shut both runways, the mood was relatively calm at the terminal as airport workers handed out boxes containing sandwiches, cake and cartons of water.

Passengers appeared to heed calls by Colin Matthews, the beleaguered boss of British airport authority BAA, to stay away unless their flight had been confirmed. About two-thirds of flights at Heathrow were cancelled on Tuesday.

But it was a far cry from the "great experience" promised by Matthews to those who did come to the airport.

In the same terminal was a family of seven, including three children, who left Malaysia on Friday for a skiing holiday in Switzerland, but found all connecting flights cancelled. They had to fork out for four nights at a hotel.

"This is our Christmas present. It looks like we'll have to cancel our holiday," said Mokhtar Azhan, 32.

Christine Townsend, a German woman living in Vancouver, said she had been trying to get to her mother's 70th birthday in Frankfurt last Friday -- but with the airport there closed, followed by Heathrow, she was stranded.

"I've felt like a homeless person," she said, adding that she spent the first night in a hotel, then two nights at the home of a couple who offered her a bed, and the previous night on the terminal floor.

"I don't have a cellphone that works internationally. I have no laptop and my credit card was cancelled because I'm in the wrong country. So I have no money, I feel completely stranded and hopeless."

She abandoned her trip and hoped to fly home to Vancouver Thursday.

Hundreds of people meanwhile had to queue in the cold outside Terminal 3, where staff were limiting access to the departure lounge to all those with tickets for Tuesday.

And in Terminal 4, dozens of Nigerian travellers trying to get home on Arik Air were becoming desperate.

Kelvin, a 27-year-old studying in the central English city of Coventry, had been trying for two days to get to Abuja for his wedding.

"I'm supposed to be getting married on the 26th. I told the airline staff but they don't care about it. I've given up, I've got my bus ticket back to Coventry and I've postponed the wedding," he told AFP.

Grim faced, he gave only his first name before retiring to a quiet corner to call his fiancee to give her the bad news.

In the same area, a woman who was four months pregnant complained that she had been left sleeping on coats on the floor and without any food.

"We feel very cheated and very disappointed," added 21-year-old Idayat Ishona, who is studying computer science in Portsmouth, southeast England, and was trying to visit her family in Lagos.

After five days spent sleeping on the terminal floor she was close to tears. "Right now I just want to get home, I just want to get to Nigeria. It's terrible," she said.

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