EasyJet was forced to cancel at least 26 flights to and from Gatwick today despite the airport claiming this morning that it was “business as usual”.
Gatwick confirmed 13 arrivals and 13 departures were cancelled on Tuesday morning owing to air traffic control restrictions imposed due to staff sickness.
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 be delayed or cancelled as a result.”
The airport apologised for the inconvenience to passengers.
Yet reporting the airport’s half-year results this morning, Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate insisted: “We’re now operating business as usual.”
Wingate went so far as to confirm the removal of the airport’s cap on passenger capacity from the end of August, in contrast to Heathrow which last week extended its daily limit on passenger numbers until late October.
Both the airports imposed caps on capacity earlier in the summer to ease the delays and flight cancellations caused by staff shortages, in particular among ground handlers.
An eastJet spokesperson confirmed the cancellations as “due to sickness at air traffic control”, saying: “This is not due to easyJet.”
Gatwick air traffic control staff are employed by Air Navigation Solutions (ANS), not the airport.
It’s not the first time that flights at Gatwick have been cancelled this summer due to sickness among air traffic control staff.