Thousands of holidaymakers left 'stranded' as delays hit Heathrow and Gatwick airports
8 July 2024, 13:16
Thousands of holidaymakers were left stranded after London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports were hit with dozens of flight cancellations today.
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Both EasyJet at London Gatwick and British Airways at Heathrow were forced to ground 32 short-haul flights each, according to reports.
Poor weather conditions and problems with Air Traffic Control (ATC) have been blamed for the cancellations and delays.
Domestic flights, as well as trips to Italy, Hungary and Spain have all been affected.
While services have seemingly returned to normal this afternoon, many EasyJet flights scheduled to depart on Monday morning appeared to be delayed by several hours.
The airline said in a statement: “EasyJet operated around 1800 flights yesterday however some flights across Europe were unfortunately disrupted due to the impact of adverse weather and air traffic control delays.
“We have been doing everything possible to minimise the impact for our customers whose flights were affected, providing hotel accommodation and meals as well as a refund or a transfer to an alternative flight and are advising customers they will be reimbursed for expenses should they need to make their own arrangements.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers is our highest priority and while this is outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
EasyJet passengers are unlikely to receive compensation following today’s delays, with the problems being blamed on extraordinary circumstances," The Sun reports.
A message reportedly sent to travelers read: “We’re sorry that your flight has been cancelled. This is due to air traffic control restrictions.
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“The disruption to your flight is outside of our control and is considered to be an extraordinary circumstance.”
Fuming passengers have taken to social media to complain amid today’s delays.
One X user wrote: "Lovely that you cancel my flight today from Copenhagen. Especially by sending an email at 2.30am.
“The only way back now is via Norwegain and costs £500 one way."
A second messaged easyJet, writing: "I’m stuck in Gatwick Airport, I’ve been here for hours, flight cancelled, spent 3 hours trying to deal with you guys."
And a third said: “Would NOT recommend EasyJet. Approaching 48 hrs since we were meant to be home - opted for the train after 3rd cancelled flight.”
Ryanair has also apologised for delays facing customers this morning, pinning cancellations on ATC “staff shortages.”
A statement on the airline’s website read: “Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, on Mon 8 Jul apologised to its passengers for the excessive flight delays caused by European ATC staff shortages today Mon 8 Jul which are affecting all European airlines.
“ATC services, which have had the benefit of no French ATC strike disruption this summer, continue to underperform (despite flight volumes being 5% behind 2019 levels) with repeated “staff shortages”.
“On Mon 8 Jul, 21% of Ryanair’s first wave departures (134 of 579 aircraft) were delayed due to ATC “staff shortages”. These repeated flight delays due to ATC mismanagement are unacceptable.
“We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control.”
This comes after British Airways was forced to ground two of its aircraft on Sunday after they were struck by lightning.
