Brits stranded and out of pocket after Gatwick cancels flights last-minute due to staff shortages

23 August 2022, 13:37 | Updated: 24 August 2022, 07:27

Brits have been left stranded abroad, forced to miss concerts, and hundreds of pounds out of pocket after Gatwick cancelled nearly 30 easyJet flights due to staff shortages.

Thirteen departures and thirteen arrivals - a total of 26 flights - had to be cancelled on Tuesday morning after not enough staff went in to work in the control tower, the West Sussex airport said.

"Restrictions were put on the number of flights that can arrive into Gatwick due to late-notice staff absence in the airport's control tower," said a spokesman.

"Some flights throughout the day may unfortunately be delayed or cancelled as a result.

"Gatwick would like to apologise for any inconvenience this will cause to our passengers."

The sudden cancellations came despite Gatwick earlier saying it was "now very much operating business as usual".

Furious passengers took to social media after being left stranded at airports abroad, and at Gatwick.

Richard Peach, 52, who was due to watch Coldplay tonight with his wife at Hampden Park in Glasgow, had to sell his tickets after easyJet cancelled their flight last-minute.

He told LBC he was "very disappointed" to not be making the trip to Scotland to watch the band perform and hit out at the "last-minute" notice from the budget airline.

He was fortunate enough to see Coldplay at Wembley with his son on Sunday, but said it's "disappointing" to have his trip cancelled last minute.

Mr and Mrs Peach were due to get a 5.30am train out of Chichester to Gatwick, ahead of their flight at 8.55am.

However, when they checked their emails before setting off, they were told their flight had been cancelled.

The next flight would have been too much of a rush to make it in time for the concert, so they were forced to sell their tickets on Facebook.

They had both taken two days off work to attend the gig, and they'd forked out £137 on a hotel stay which they are unable to claim back.

"It was a non-refundable booking with a small family business and they can't afford to lose it, and I do sympathise with them," the local government officer said.

"For them to be able to cancel at such short notice - that's what is most disappointing.

"If they gave you three or four days notice it would allow you to look at making alternative plans, but when it's this short notice you are stuck."

Meanwhile, Michelle Smith, who was also due to fly from Gatwick to Glasgow today, said she received an email at 1.40am saying her flight was cancelled, despite receiving five emails the previous day regarding check-in.

She said she felt "let down" by the airline.

She wrote: "Let down by @easyJet again. Cancelled flight LGW to Glasgow 1030 this morning 😠how do you think it is OK to send email at 1.40am to advise flight cancelled? 🥵 despite 5 emails the day before re check in. @easyJet_press rude and unhelpful."

Stuart Hayles and his friend Stephen, from Oxford, woke up to a text message telling them their easyJet flight from Mallorca to Gatwick had been cancelled.

"We were due to fly this morning, now we're stranded here, with no explanation," Mr Hayles told the BBC.

The pair, who had been on a week's holiday, are now trying to find accommodation but say it is almost impossible at short notice.

Thousands of people have been hit by flight cancellations and airport delays this summer, with thousands of flights axed last minute due to staff shortages.

Earlier in the summer, Gatwick recruited 400 extra security staff to try to ease queues over the holidays.

It also introduced a daily flight cap, which it said would help passengers "experience a more reliable and better standard of service".

Without constraints over the summer passengers would have experienced poor standards of service. Queues would have been long and many flights would have been delayed or cancelled at the last minute.

But with the school holidays coming to an end, the worst has passed.

Gatwick's chief executive Stewart Wingate said: "The unprecedented growth in traffic led to short-term operational issues in June; however, our decisive early action to limit the airport's capacity in the crucial school holiday period of July and August has ensured passengers have experienced reliable flight timetables over the summer months.

"We are now very much operating business as usual and do not see any reason to extend the capacity declaration."

More than 13 million passengers travelled through the airport in the six months to the end of June. It now expects 32.8 million passengers to use the airport this year.

But this prediction could be hit by runaway inflation, which is pushing up costs and making people cut back on luxuries.

An easyJet spokesperson said: "Due to Air Traffic Control staff sickness at London Gatwick, the airport imposed a zero flow rate for arrivals meaning a number of flights to and from London Gatwick this morning were unable to operate.

"We did all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption for our customers, notifying them in advance of options to rebook in or receive a refund and providing hotel accommodation and meals where required.

"We advise customers due travel to and from London Gatwick today to check the status of their flight on our Flight Tracker page for real-time updates.

"The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while this was outside of our control, we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused."