Thousands of passengers are struggling to recover their travel plans after easyJet cancelled 1,700 summer flights as it battles delays at its main base, London Gatwick.
After weeks in which hundreds of flights at the airport have been cancelled at the last minute, Britain’s biggest budget airline has told 180,000 passengers that their departures in July, August and September have been grounded.
The carrier blames “unprecedented” air-traffic control delays, which it says are three times longer than before the pandemic.
It says 95 per cent of the affected travellers have been rebooked on other easyJet flights – leaving 9,000 currently without a replacement.
But passengers have complained about easyJet’s rebooking process, which has seen 18,000 travellers being switched to a different departure date.
Under European air passengers’ rights rules, anyone whose flight is cancelled should be offered a flight on the original day of travel if seats are available on any airline.
Jenny Chan found her planned journey from Glasgow via Gatwick to Marseille in disarray following easyJet’s rebooking. She had originally booked a nonstop from Glasgow to the south of France airport, but that was cancelled earlier in the year.
Ms Chan accepted the one-stop journey – but that was rendered impossible by easyJet moving the second leg a day earlier. She tweeted: “They had me flying from Gatwick a day before my flight with them to Gatwick from Glasgow.
“All flights under the one booking as we were originally flying direct from Glasgow to Marseille but the flight was cancelled earlier this year.”
Passengers who choose to accept a rebooking to a different date can claim any additional accommodation and meal costs from easyJet.
The Independent has also seen examples where travellers have been booked on connecting flights with easyJet through other European airports. They are entitled to a direct flight if one is available on any carrier.
EasyJet chose Monday to launch a seat sale, triggering derision on social media. One prospective traveller tweeted: “Don’t want to plan any flights with a carrier that cancels so many flights these days. Jet2 will get my business from now on. Great record of not cancelling.”
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, told The Independent: “This is really going to be devastating for…
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