EasyJet, a leading budget airline in the UK, has been compelled to cancel 1,700 summer flights from London Gatwick Airport (LGW), causing potential disruptions to the holiday plans of thousands of passengers. These cancellations are expected to impact approximately 180,000 passengers who had planned to travel to and from Gatwick during July, August, and September.
EasyJet has managed to rebook 95% of the affected passengers on alternative flights. However, about 9,000 travelers are still awaiting placement on other flights, as per reports from The Independent. This decision to cancel flights coincides with the onset of summer holidays in schools across England and Wales. The current cancellations are equivalent to a whole day's worth of flights with the airline.
This news comes after a difficult weekend for EasyJet, during which it cancelled 118 flights, including more than 40 to and from Gatwick, as per FlightAware data. The airline attributes these cancellations to "challenging conditions" such as air traffic control delays, potential air traffic control strike action, and the impacts of airspace closures due to the conflict in Ukraine.
An EasyJet spokesperson stated, "We have made some pre-emptive adjustments to our program, consolidating a small number of flights at Gatwick, where we have multiple daily frequencies, to help mitigate these external challenges on the day of travel for our customers. We are informing customers whose flights are affected, with 95% of customers being rebooked onto an alternative flight and all customers provided with the option to rebook or receive a refund. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused."
Despite these challenges, EasyJet remains committed to operating more than 90,000 flights during the summer period. However, further disruptions could be on the horizon for all airlines. Last week, Eurocontrol, a key European air traffic control company, announced potential strike plans, which could affect approximately 12,600 daily flights in the coming months. The dates for these proposed strikes have not yet been announced.
Passengers whose EasyJet flights have been cancelled may be eligible for compensation under the EU261 regulation. This regulation gives passengers the right to travel on the day of planned departure using other airlines at EasyJet's expense, or claim a full refund for their fare if they decline a replacement flight. If the airline is responsible for the flight cancellation, passengers may be entitled to compensation under European law. This compensation can be up to 350 British pounds (about $446.81) for EasyJet flights longer than 1,500 km (about 932 miles). The airline is also obligated to cover any additional accommodation costs due to delays or meals taken while waiting to depart.
