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Gatwick apologises after information screens blackout

Gatwick issued an apology after flight information had to be written on whiteboards for most of yesterday after an IT glitch hit electronic flight departure screens.

Vodafone, which provides the service, said a damaged fibre optic cable had caused the information boards to stop working.

A spokesman for the UK’s second busiest airport said the issue had been resolved by 5pm yesterday and flight information was being displayed as normal.

“Tens of thousands” of people departed on time and no flights were cancelled.

Apologising to passengers, he added that the airport’s “manual contingency plan”, which included having extra staff on hand to help direct passengers, had worked well.

The airport earlier said a “handful of people” had missed their flights due to the problems.

Passengers were urged to use temporary flight boards in departure lounges or listen out for airline flight departures after electronic displays were hit by an “IT issue” yesterday morning.

The airport tweeted: “Contingencies are working – we have whiteboards and friendly staff on hand to help, and tens of thousands of passengers have departed on time. Apologies for any inconvenience.”

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