Airport chaos as thousands of customers are left stranded due to cancelled flights

If this hot weather doesn't make you want to go on holiday I don't know what will, but unfortunately thousands of Brits have had their getaway plans ruined this week as dozens of flights have been cancelled.

The reason for these cancellations?

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The weather. Of course - we're not built for anything but grey skies and drizzle, are we?

More than 15,000 people were impacted as EasyJet cancelled 54 flights from Gatwick on Sunday, with the interruptions continuing today with another 55 flights grounded.

British Airways has also been forced to cancel a number of flights, and some Tui customers have also faced disruptions.

One traveller, Jayne Thompson, took to Twitter to share the 'total chaos' unfolding at the London airport in the wake of the cancellations.

"Total chaos in Gatwick tonight!," they wrote. "Multiple cancelled flights, no support, no local hotels with availability, login to manage booking jammed, two staff on the floor swamped by thousands of panicking travellers. Totally unacceptable."

Twitter/@JayneAThompson

The fact that all of the impacted airlines regularly fly to countries with hot weather proves it's not the sudden sun that has caused the issues; instead, it's the storms that have come with it.

Many parts of the country experienced thunder and heavy rains yesterday (11 June), with Gatwick Airport particularly impacted by the adverse weather.

EasyJet apologised to customers as it explained it had been 'impacted by thunderstorm activity' on Sunday which had a knock-on effect into Monday.

The poor weather conditions caused 'extended air traffic control restrictions', according to the airline.

"Thunderstorms in the Gatwick area which restricted the number of arrivals and departures on Sunday unfortunately resulted in disruption at London Gatwick Airport, including some diversions and cancellations which is having a knock-on impact this morning as a number of aircraft are out of position," an EasyJet spokesperson said.

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"We are doing all possible to minimise the impact on our customers, providing those on cancelled flights with options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required," they continued.

"The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and, while this is outside of our control, we would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused."

Gatwick Airport also issued an apology, telling LADbible: "Due to unsettled weather conditions and thunderstorms across the south of England and Europe yesterday, temporary air traffic restrictions were put in place, which resulted in some flights being delayed and cancelled. London Gatwick apologises to passengers for any inconvenience. Further thunderstorms are expected today, so passengers should contact their airline for further information."

At the time of writing (12 June), a number of flights at the airport still face disruptions, with some EasyJet flights delayed while customers for other flights are encouraged to enquire with the airline.

LADbible has contacted EasyJet for comment.

Topics: Travel, UK News, Weather

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.