London’s Gatwick Airport has been revealed as the “worst in the Europe” for cancellations and delays - with more than half of flights disrupted last month.
It comes as Gatwick passengers look set for more turmoil this summer, as budget airline easyJet is understood to have cancelled around 1,700 flights.
Research by passenger rights expert AirHelp found a staggering 54.08 per cent of flights from the busy London airport were cancelled or delayed in June.
It made the terminus, based in west Sussex, the worst major European airport for disruption.
The situation does not look likely to improve at Gatwick in coming months, following news easyJet has reportedly cancelled around 1,700 flights scheduled between July and September due to air traffic control (ATC) restrictions.
The decision will affect 180,000 passengers, the Independent reported, and is expected to primarily affect Gatwick, the budget airline’s main base.
A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “Flights at London Gatwick are increasingly being regulated at peak times due to the knock-on effects of air traffic control restrictions across numerous parts of Europe.
“These restrictions are beyond the control of the airport and have been put in place to manage and smooth out the flow of aircraft arriving from, and departing to, disrupted airspace across Europe.⯠Multiple factors are causing airspace restrictions across Europe, including industrial action, staff shortages, the war in Ukraine and poor weather.
“Gatwick has more flights to Europe than any other UK airport and can be impacted disproportionately by disruption on the continent.
“We are working closely with our airline partners to minimise disruption and apologise to any passengers who may be inconvenienced.”
The AirHelp research found Gatwick was followed by Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado, and Copenhagen’s Kastrup airports, both of which also saw more than half of flights disrupted last month.
Manchester International Airport came in behind Gatwick as second-worst in Britain, with 43.78 per cent of flights were disrupted last month.
Best in Europe was Helsinki-Vantaa airport in Finland’s capital, Helsinki, where just 18.33 per cent of flights were disrupted in June.
London Stansted had the lowest percentage of disrupted flights of any British airport last month, with 34.52 per cent of flights cancelled or delayed.
ATC restrictions due to strikes, staff shortages and airspace closures related to the war in Ukraine are expected to be among the biggest problems facing airlines this summer, with Fridays and weekends expected to be most at risk of disruption.
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “I’ve been warning for some time that our UK airport infrastructure, along with continuing people shortages at airlines and ground handlers, cannot cope with the massive summer demand.
“Just when you thought you had secured a flight to your summer holiday paradise, it gets changed and causes more inconvenience and stress.
“Airlines have to get better at planning and delivering, not letting down customers at short notice.
“EasyJet aren’t the first and won’t be the last to take such action this summer.”
Regarding the cancelled summer flights, an easyJet statement said: “We are currently operating up to around 1,800 flights and carrying around 250,000 customers per day with more crew and pilots flying than ever before and like all airlines, we review our flights on an ongoing basis.
“As Eurocontrol has stated, the whole industry is seeing challenging conditions this summer with more constrained air space due to the war in Ukraine resulting in unprecedented ATC delays, as well as further potential ATC strike action.
“We have therefore made some pre-emptive adjustments to our programme consolidating a small number of flights at Gatwick, where we have multiple daily frequencies, in order to help mitigate these external challenges on the day of travel for our customers, and we continue to operate around 90,000 flights over this period.
“Customers whose flights are affected are being informed, with 95% of customers being rebooked onto an alternative flight and all customers provided with the option to rebook or receive a refund.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused.”
The budget airline easyJet insisted the delays are not due to staff shortages, which plagued the aviation sector last year.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, a network of independent travel agents, said: “Hearing your flight has been cancelled will be devasting news for all those who have made their summer travel plans and are beginning to get excited about their holidays.
“Changes to travel plans late in the day can be stressful, and those impacted by the easyJet cancellations will be having to seek alternative flight arrangements now.
“However, for context, these cancellations only represent a small percentage of the total summer departures and of course, many will depart for their holidays as planned.
“Disruption because of congested airspace is an issue facing the airline industry during this very busy period but it’s essential that airlines do all they can to ensure that there is as little disruption to travellers as possible and work to ensure that consumer confidence in the travel industry remains high.”
