Manston Airport’s “flexibility and resilience” has been flagged up after four British Airways aircrafts were diverted there today due to fog.

The Thanet airport accommodated four British Airways flights from Scandinavia, unable to land at Heathrow due to the conditions.

Sixty six flights were grounded at the London airport because of the fog.

Manston Airport Chief Executive Charles Buchanan said: “The ability to handle these diversions demonstrates the flexibility and resilience Manston can deliver to the airport system of London and the South East today.

“The four British Airways aircraft, all en route to Heathrow, needed to divert due to fog and Manston was selected as their destination.

“Just days before the Airports Commission publishes its Interim Report, Manston has shown the importance of having a diversified range of airport capacity to serve London and the South East. Flights that would otherwise not have started their journey were able to land close to the capital. Resilience in airport capacity is supported by having several airports able to meet travel needs, rather than all the eggs in one basket.”

The planes diverted to Manston from Heathrow were Airbus 319 and 320s, with nearly 500 passengers on board in total. They were arriving from Copenhagen, Stockholm, Vienna and Oslo.

Down on the ground there was disruption to road traffic across the county, where the Met Office had issued a yellow weather warning, until skies cleared.