Heathrow boss is shamed into giving up his bonus as it is revealed airport 'failed' to order enough de-icer to cope with heavy snow

BAA chief Colin Matthews faced calls to relinquish his bonus amid continued chaos and delays

Heathrow's chief executive relinquished his bonus today amid claims bosses 'failed' to buy enough de-icer, ruining Christmas getaway plans for more than a million people.

The world's busiest airport has drawn widespread criticism after holidaymakers were left to sleep on cold terminal floors during the festive period as thousands of flights were cancelled or delayed.

Furious airlines have now hit out at Heathrow's owners BAA, insisting the company did not stock up on enough de-icing fluid to keep its two runways open.

Boss Colin Matthews later bowed to calls to relinquish his six-figure bonus.

Snow is cleared from the southern runway. The airport has turned down an offer of help from the Army

Snow ploughs clear the southern runway at Heathrow, as travel chaos continues at the London airport

Passengers sleep on the hard floor of Terminal 3 as flights are cancelled or delayed by bad weather

The world's busiest airport has drawn widespread criticism after Christmas getaway plans were ruined for millions of passengers as flights were cancelled and chaos was predicted to go on 'beyond Christmas Day'

Lord Jones of Birmingham said Mr Matthews, the owner of a ski lodge in the French Alps and a £1.9million west London home, should 'not be getting a bonus when he has diminished Britain's global brand'.

He branded the airport the 'laughing stock' of Europe.

Mick Rix, the GMB union's national officer for the aviation industry, echoed his remarks, saying 'a huge bonus' would be 'an absolute slap in the face to the thousands of people who have been stranded at Heathrow for the past three days'.

BAA's accounts revealed its chief executive was paid a total of £1.6million last year, including a £994,000 salary and benefits with a further £174,000 in pension contributions.

He was expected to receive an additional - and undisclosed - cash bonus this year, linked to BAA's profits during a three-year period. BAA predicts its pre-tax profits will be more than £972 million for 2010.

Mr Matthews said: 'I have decided to give up my bonus for the current year.

'My focus is on keeping people moving and rebuilding confidence in Heathrow.'

Welcoming Mr Matthews' decision, Mr Rix said: 'For once, a British senior director has done the right thing.

'Anything else would have been an outrage and an insult to the thousands of people who have been badly disrupted.'

However, at the airport, passengers relied on the Salvation Army who handed out free tea and coffee from a van more usually brought out during civil disasters.

Heavy snow and ice meant two thirds of flights were grounded at the airport yesterday, while passengers were advised to stay away from Terminals One and Three which were unable to cope with the volume of travellers.

Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his 'frustration' at the continued disruption.

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief executive of airline BMI, said: 'What is really incredible is that 10cm (4in) of snow closed the airport down for two days and then it operated at one-third capacity. It is completely unacceptable.

'BAA was not prepared. It did not have enough de-icing fluid.

'The Prime Minister has stepped in and de-icing fluid has been released from other sources.

'This should have been possible without this kind of intervention.'

Heathrow's second runway finally reopened at 5pm yesterday but Mr Matthews warned not to expect normal services immediately and urged people to check before going to the airport.

Bosses were hopeful that more flights would be able to take off today but many holidaymakers were still facing the prospect of being separated from their families over Christmas.

Flight cancellations were predicted to go on 'beyond Christmas Day'.

Mr Cameron said: 'If it's understandable that Heathrow had to close briefly, I'm frustrated on behalf of all those affected that it's taking so long for the situation to improve.'

Some 180,000 people were scheduled to fly in or out of the airport every day this week, with up to 200,000 expected to pass through Heathrow on its busiest day.

Mr Matthews has pledged to investigate how the situation was dealt with and why it took so long to clear snow from aircraft but only after the 'short-term' aim of getting passengers to where they needed to be had been achieved.

Asked about the plight of the thousands of passengers affected by the shutdown, he said: 'It is heartbreaking - the stories which we hear of people who are missing holidays, weddings, important family events and looking at whether or not they can get home for Christmas.

'That's why we are focused as hard as we can be on building up the rate at which aircraft come and go to get passengers where they want to be.'

But sources from leading airlines claimed the airport lacked the necessary de-icing resources.

BAA rejected the accusations.

We have comfortable stocks of de-icer planned all week and they have been robust and in place throughout,' a spokesman said.

The airport has turned down an offer of help from the Army to remove snow from the southern runway, stands and taxiways.