About a thousand Qantas passengers remain stranded and snow bound at Heathrow airport while several thousand have been grounded in Asia awaiting clearance to fly to the London terminal.
A Qantas spokesman said Heathrow was still closed to arrivals until midnight on Sunday local time (1100 AEDT), but limited departures had been permitted amid the icy conditions that have unleashed commuter chaos across Europe.
One Qantas flight, QF32, departed Heathrow on Sunday bound for Singapore and Sydney, the spokesman said.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
But about 1000 Australia-bound passengers remain in limbo and face lengthy delays while a backlog of flights is cleared, the spokesman said.
"We still have two aircraft on the ground in London waiting to depart and we also have aircraft waiting in Asia, pending further advice from Heathrow."
Eight Qantas aircraft that have departed Australia during the past two days are waiting in Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong to for clearance to land at Heathrow, the spokesman said.
He said an update from Heathrow was expected soon.
"I think the weather conditions are improving," the spokesman said.
