Gatwick Airport: Travel chaos as shortage of air traffic controllers forces flight diversion

Friday, September 15, 2023

Travel chaos ensued at London’s Gatwick Airport as a shortage of air traffic controllers forced dozens of flights to be cancelled, delayed, or diverted, repeating a situation experienced just eight days prior.

Passengers faced significant disruptions, with thousands of them landing in unfamiliar airports.

The problem, attributed to an air traffic controller falling sick, prompted warnings of “heavy delays all evening” from Europe’s aviation agency, Eurocontrol. More than a dozen flights were diverted to airports as far away as Wales, and easyJet alone canceled at least 16 departures and arrivals.

Among the most notable diversions were an Air Baltic flight from Tallinn that landed in Brussels and a British Airways arrival from Faro that touched down in Cardiff. Passengers on these flights experienced significant delays, waiting for several hours before finally being cleared to fly to Gatwick.

Lufthansa’s flight from Frankfurt ended up at Heathrow, with the return leg from Gatwick canceled. Air Europa passengers bound for Madrid found themselves stranded, as their inbound plane landed at Stansted, leading to the cancellation of the return trip. Tui also redirected flights from Greek islands to Stansted and Bournemouth.

EasyJet, Gatwick’s largest airline, had to divert five flights to Luton. This recent disruption followed a similar incident of “short-notice staff sickness” at Gatwick on September 6, which resulted in numerous flight cancellations.

The CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, called for the resignation of Nats CEO Martin Rolfe, blaming UK air traffic control staff shortages for avoidable delays and disruptions. The impact of these disruptions goes beyond airlines’ control, but they are responsible for finding alternative flights, providing accommodations, and meals for stranded passengers.

Both passengers and airlines expressed frustration over the situation, emphasizing the need for a swift resolution to prevent further disruptions at one of the United Kingdom’s busiest airports.

Photo: Gatwick Airport

« Back to Page

• Heavy rain in UAE disrupts Chennai-Dubai flights

• Delhi fog triggers cancellation of 16 flights at Pune Airport

• A blizzard led US Airlines to cancel over 2,000 flights

• Tokyo’s Haneda accident led Japanese airlines to cancel 130 flights

• FAA’s staffing issues lead to United Airlines flight cancellation