Gatwick Airport limits flights over air traffic control staffing problems

A daily flight cap is being introduced at a UK airport due to staff shortages in air traffic control.

There will only be 800 departures and arrivals at London Gatwick per day this week, with the limit starting on Monday and running until Sunday.

The ‘difficult decision’ was made as nearly a third of air traffic control staff are unavailable due to a variety of medical reasons, including coronavirus.

The cap means there will be about 29 fewer flights on Wednesday, 40 fewer on Thursday, 65 fewer on Friday and 30 fewer on Saturday.

It’s hoped the limit will prevent last-minute cancellations and delays.

Stewart Wingate, Gatwick’s chief executive, said: ‘This has been a difficult decision but the action we have taken today means our airlines can fly reliable flight programmes, which gives passengers more certainty that they will not face last-minute cancellations.

‘We are working closely with National Air Traffic Services (Nats) to build resilience in the control tower, and this decision means we can prevent as much disruptions as possible.

‘London Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers who have been impacted by these restrictions.’

Nats apologised to passengers in a statement, adding: ‘We have worked very closely with Gatwick airport throughout.

‘Given the levels of sickness we have experienced over the last few weeks we believe it is the responsible thing to do to limit the number of flights this week in order to reduce the risk of daily disruption to passengers using the airport.

‘Our operational resilience in the tower will improve as our staff return to work and we move out of the summer schedule, which is particularly busy at Gatwick.

‘We continue to train additional air traffic controllers and expect another group to qualify to work in the tower over coming months, ready for next summer.

‘Even an experienced air traffic controller takes at least nine months to qualify at Gatwick and very few are able to do so, as Gatwick is such a busy and complex air traffic environment.’

Passengers are being advised to check with airlines to find out if their flights are affected.

It’s been less than a month since around 1,500 flights were cancelled on August 28, a bank holiday, due to air traffic control issues described as an ‘international embarrassment’.

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