Originally Posted by
Heathrow Tower
The following is a simplified description. Flow control (sometimes referred to by its acronym as ATFM or ATFCM -Air Traffic Flow (Control) Measures) which forms part of the overall Network Management, is an incredibly complex beast.
By way of a housekeeping note, the above valuable insight started life in the main EC261 thread but it's probably best placed here as well. It's not specifically fog related, of course, but I think it does explain the background to what can be very tedious delays in departing European airports. Many thanks to
HT for writing this up.
Edit: I've put a wiki on this thread to provide a roadmap to key posts.