Harsh Weather And COVID-19 Cases Disrupts Flights at Gatwick Airport

Hundreds of flights out of London Gatwick Airport (LGW) were delayed on Saturday, causing travel chaos for many passengers. The airport blamed poor weather but was simultaneously dealing with air traffic control (ATC) staffing restrictions across Europe, which were exacerbated by an onset of sickness among staff.

It comes as numerous flight disruptions occurred at LGW last weekend. Earlier in the week, some passengers reportedly waited for their flight at the airport for longer than eight hours.

Saturday compared to Friday

According to FlightAware, there were 399 delays at LGW on Saturday. Eight flights were within, into, or out of the US, and only three were canceled. Low-cost carrier easyJet had the most flights affected, with 253 delays, accounting for more than 62% of flights at LGW. Despite the plethora of delays, the airline only had one canceled flight. BA EuroFlyer, a wholly owned subsidiary of British Airways, had two cancelations and 26 delays.

Photo: Ceri Breeze/Shutterstock

While over 400 flights were disrupted on Saturday, the situation was much better than on Friday, when the airport reportedly first alerted travelers of the flight complications. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, LGW cited weather and COVID-19 cases among air traffic control staff.

“Temporary air traffic restrictions have been put in place today due to poor weather, and short notice sickness in the Air Traffic Control Tower, including cases of Covid-19. This is likely to cause delays and cancellations and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Departures on Friday morning were reportedly impacted by fog and low visibility, which seemed to be the onset of flight disruptions for thousands of passengers. Problems continued into the afternoon due to staff being ill, according to SussexLive. The airport reportedly said it was “working hard to minimise disruption” and encouraged passengers to check their flight status with their airline. However, there was no indication of how long the issue would last. For most of the week, windy weather also contributed to flight complications at London-area airports. On Saturday, British Airways canceled several flights from London Heathrow Airport.

Stuck in the airport

In addition to British Airways and easyJet, the weather and sickness among air traffic controllers affected flights operated by TUI Airways, according to NationalWorld. Many people were also stuck on their planes on the tarmac due to the delays, while inbound flights set to land at LGW were also impacted, according to SussexLive.

Photo: London Gatwick Airport

One traveler flying with two children on Wizz Air earlier in the week expressed their disappointment after their flight was delayed over more than eight hours.

“Flight delayed by 8.5 hours. How to kill time at the airport with a 2 year old and a 4 year old,” the person wrote on X. “No seats anywhere. Thank you for the generous £6 vouchers.”

According to LGW, airlines were tasked with offering assistance to passengers during their long delay, offering additional vouchers and potentially a hotel if delays went into the overnight hours. The airport also encouraged affected passengers to keep their receipts to be reimbursed.

ATC staffing issues

Another passenger criticized the airport on X, saying that it was “strange” how the airport has “short notice sickness so regularly.” One traveler claimed that it was the third time this year that the airport has had staffing issues and said they would start flying out of London Stansted Airport or London City Airport instead.

On September 14th, more than 40 flights at LGW were canceled or diverted due to a lack of ATC staff, according to Sky News.

Sources: FlightAware (1,2), SussexLive, NationalWorld, Sky News