Dozens of easyJet flights from Gatwick Airport halted as air traffic control staff are off sick

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

There are dozens of easyJet flights from Gatwick Airport have been halted at short notice as too many air traffic control staff are off sick.

So far 13 arrivals and 13 departures of the budget airline have been cancelled today, out of a total of 180 flights scheduled for today.

A Gatwick spokesperson said: ‘At 7am, 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.

‘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 aviation industry has been struggling to adjust to a surge in demand for international travel after the lifting of Covid restrictions.

Many workers were laid off during the pandemic, and staffing numbers have also been affected by people catching the virus and having to miss work.

Despite the struggles, Gatwick Airport has said it is back to ‘business as usual’ and will not need to extend its capacity restraints beyond the end of the month.

The airport – which is London’s second busiest – said in June that it was moderating the growth in the number of flights after major disruption over the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday.

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.

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.’

He said the boom in demand for overseas travel has helped the airport bounce back from the pandemic.

In the second quarter of the year demand was at 74% of pre-pandemic levels, Gatwick said.

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

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