Chaos has struck Gatwick Airport this evening as passengers face delayed, diverted and cancelled flights due to air traffic control staff shortages.
Several flights due to land at the Sussex airport have been diverted to other airports as far away as Cardiff, while easyJet has axed at least a dozen departures and arrivals tonight.
Pilots were being warned of ‘heavy delays all evening’ because of the problem, according to Europe’s aviation agency, Eurocontrol.
Thousands of passengers are thought to be affected.
Among the diversions was a flight from the Faroe Islands which was forced to land at Cardiff Airport, while a flight from Frankfurt was diverted to Heathrow with the return leg to Germany cancelled, The Independent reports.
Passengers flying from Madrid with Air Europa landed at Stansted, as did those on a Ryanair flight from Dublin.
Tui Airways from Corfu and Crete in Greece also landed in Stansted, while a flight from Samos was diverted to Bournemouth.
Gatwick’s biggest airline, easyJet, sent four flights to Luton: from Crete and fellow Greek island, Mykonos as well as Faro and Belfast.
Although the airlines are not responsible for the shortage of air control staff at Gatwick Airport, they must find alternative flights for stranded passengers, as well as hotels and meals where necessary.
A number of passengers voiced their frustrations on X (formely Twitter). One, Dax Patel, wrote: ‘Landed at Heathrow airport, supposed to go Gatwick, passengers sitting in flight from last 1 hour, they don’t provide any information, no information at airports too, not even customer care, the worst service.’
This evening’s issues follow a previous ‘short-notice staff sickness’ at Gatwick on September 6, which caused dozens of flights to be cancelled.
And on August 28, a bank holiday Monday, the Nats air-traffic control system for the entire UK stopped working for several hours, leading to 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.
‘London Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers who have been impacted by these restrictions. Please contact your airline for more information.
‘Nats are a world-class provider of air traffic services and London Gatwick’s senior management recognises how hard the airport’s air traffic controllers are working to keep the operation moving. We are working closely with Nats to build resilience in the airport’s control tower to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.’
In a follow-up statement at around 9.30pm the spokesperson said the situation was ‘improving with an additional air traffic controller now in place.
‘The air traffic control restrictions are reducing as a consequence and more aircraft are able to arrive and depart.’
National Air Traffic Services (Nats) said: ‘Air traffic control restrictions have been put in place this afternoon due to a short notice staff absence affecting our air traffic control team at Gatwick Airport.
‘We are working closely with the airport to ensure we can handle flights with as little disruption as possible and we apologise very sincerely to people who have been inconvenienced [as a result of unavoidable diversions].
‘We are working closely with Gatwick Airport Ltd to build resilience in the airport’s control tower to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.
‘New air traffic controllers have been recruited since last summer, increasing our presence by 17%, and others are due to start after completing their training, in line with the agreed plan when Nats took over the contract last October.’
‘London Gatwick’s senior management understands that we are working hard to keep the operation moving. Airlines operating at London Gatwick were aware of the situation when Nats was appointed but that does not dilute the apology we offer sincerely to them and their passengers who have been inconvenienced by recent disruption.’
Rory Boland, of consumer group Which? said it was unacceptable that Gatwick passengers have been hit by further air traffic control problems so soon after the recent chaos.
He said: ‘This is not an issue caused by airlines, but they must meet their legal obligations to look after passengers and provide them with support during delays and help with refunds and rerouting – including with other carriers if necessary.
‘To help end this cycle of miserable passenger experiences, the Prime Minister must play his part and prioritise legislation to give the CAA stronger enforcement powers in the King’s Speech later this year.’
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