Thousands of passengers face cancelled, delayed or diverted flights this evening because of air traffic control staff shortages at London’s Gatwick airport.
Pilots are being warned of “heavy delays all evening” because of the problem, according to Europe’s aviation agency, Eurocontrol.
Thousands of arriving passengers found themselves landing in unfamiliar locations. More than a dozen flights diverted to airports as far away as Wales, while easyJet has axed at least 12 departures and arrivals this evening due to the disruption.
The longest diversion was for a British Airways arrival from Faro, which touched down in Cardiff. Lufthansa’s arrival from Frankfurt went to Heathrow, and the return leg from Gatwick was cancelled.
Air Europa passengers waiting at Gatwick for a flight to Madrid are also stranded; the inbound plane landed at Stansted, and the return trip to the Spanish capital has been cancelled. The Essex airport was the destination for a Ryanair flight from Dublin.
Tui sent its arrivals from the Greek islands of Corfu and Crete to Stansted, while the plane from Samos is in Bournemouth.
EasyJet, the biggest airline at Gatwick, diverted four flights to Luton: from Belfast, Faro, Heraklion and Mykonos.
Even though the cause is beyond the airlines’ control, they are responsible for finding alternative flights as soon as possible for stranded passengers, as well as finding hotels and providing meals in line with the length of the delay.
The latest disruption follows an earlier episode of “short-notice staff sickness” at Gatwick on 6 September, which triggered dozens of flight cancellations.
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On bank holiday Monday, 28 August, the Nats air-traffic control system for the entire UK failed for several hours, triggering more than 2,000 flight cancellations.
A Gatwick airport spokesperson said: “Due to a short-notice staff absence in the air-traffic Control tower, temporary air traffic control restrictions have been put in place this afternoon. This will cause some delays.
Passengers have been warned of ‘heavy delays’ all evening
(Eurocontrol)
“London Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers…
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