Holidaymakers’ fury as easyJet leaves them stranded for DAYS: Airline axes flights across Europe leaving families in airports ‘with no food or hotel’ – and there are MORE cancellations tonight (despite BA and other carriers carrying on through storms)
- Have you been affected by travel disruption? Get in touch: eirian.prosser @dailymail.co.uk
Furious British holidaymakers have slammed easyJet after the airline axed more than a hundred flights, leaving families stranded in airports with ‘no food or hotel’ as more cancellations expected tonight despite other carriers continuing to operate.
But victims of the travel chaos will be denied compensation as the airline said ‘extraordinary’, weather was to blame. The budget airline blamed thunderstorms for the string of cancellations, despite British Airways and other carriers carrying on through the storms.
One infuriated passenger, whose flight was cancelled at Birmingham Airport this afternoon, shared photos of ‘beautiful clear skies and other carriers taking off without issue’ on the runway, as she was told by easyJet there were ‘no flights for over 24 hours’.
Other bemused passengers today received conflicting information about why their flight had been cancelled, with suspicious travellers claiming the issue was due to a lack of air crew – not storms.
Nathan Ieiper, who had intended to travel from Luton to Aberdeen, was told his flight had been cancelled due to ‘bad weather’ on the easyJet app, only for airport staff to announce on the tannoy that the plane had ‘cabin crew but no pilot’.
In the past 48 hours, misery has been caused for at least 15,000 passengers, with the airline axing 54 flights scheduled to take off and land at Gatwick yesterday, with a further 55 grounded today. Pictured: Holidaymakers stuck at Gatwick
The cancellations have also been happening at Bristol and Birmingham airports
Chaotic scenes at Gatwick airport as 15,000 passengers watched their flights being cancelled or disrupted by severe weather
Queues of unlucky easyJet customers at Gatwick after flights were axed
In the past 48 hours misery has been caused for at least 15,000 passengers, with the airline axing 54 flights scheduled to take off and land at Gatwick yesterday, with a further 55 grounded today.
Tonight more flights have been cancelled at the major London airport, including trips to Glasgow, Amsterdam and Valencia.
People caught up in the chaos were outraged, claiming there were just two members of staff at the airport who were ‘swamped’ by thousands of stranded easyJet customers. Other carriers at Gatwick have grounded far fewer flights.
Holidaymakers at Birmingham Airport and Bristol Airport have also been affected by the airline’s cancellations.
Why can’t easyJet passengers get compensation because of storms?
Affected passengers are not entitled to compensation under UK consumer law when the cause of the disruption is outside the airline’s control.
If passengers are unable to fly on time due to severe weather conditions, such as storms, thick fog or an ash cloud, generally this falls under that definition and they are denied compensation.
But they must be offered new flight options and assistance such as food and drink, as well as overnight accommodation if required.
Jo Rhodes, deputy editor of consumer magazine Which? Travel, said: ‘Thousands of travellers will be frustrated to have had their plans thrown into disarray as a result of thunderstorms over Gatwick.
‘While easyJet does not have to pay compensation for these cancellations, it must offer affected passengers the option of a refund or to be rerouted at the earliest opportunity – even if this means booking seats with a rival carrier to ensure minimal delay.
‘If delayed for more than two hours, passengers will be entitled to assistance such as free meals or refreshments, and overnight accommodation if required.’
Karen Bryce’s family were left with ‘no flight and no hotel for night’ after their flight out of Kos Airport in Greece was cancelled at 11pm local time yesterday.
Ms Bryce’s son, who was travelling for the first time with his wife and three young children after finding out he no longer had cancer, has now sworn to ‘never travel abroad again’ after the mayhem they were subjected to.
The family had received an email to rebook a flight and hotel, which was said to be ‘impossible as the site kept crashing’.
‘At this point they had no flight and no hotel for the night. There were no representatives from easyJet at the airport and one person on the information desk. He described it as carnage’, Ms Bryce told MailOnline.
The family were eventually told by the airline to find a ‘reasonably priced hotel’, not explaining a price range, that they could try to claim back.
She added: ‘I think it is disgusting the way they have been left. Luckily, he was able to pay out for the flights and hotels but what would have happened if he wasn’t able to?
‘It seems strange to me that the other airlines didn’t have to cancel flights due to “adverse weather”.
‘His children are aged four, seven and nine. This is the first family holiday they have been able to have as he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in 2016 which he is now thankfully clear, and this has now spoilt it. He has said he will never travel abroad again.’
Tongiht suspicious passengers alleged the ongoing issue was not due to stormy weather but the airline not having enough air crew because rivals at Gatwick such as Norwegian and British Airways are not suffering in the same way today. One critic tweeted: ‘Why only easyJet? Surely other airlines would cancel their flights because of the weather.’
Video footage showed passengers stranded on an easyJet flight which was told they were being held due to thunderstorms. Outside of the plane window, blue skies were shown.
Mr Ieiper, who had his flight from Luton Airport to Aberdeen cancelled today by easyJet, said the airline claimed his flight had been cancelled due to ‘bad weather’ – despite them watching other passengers on a different flight board and take off.
He told MailOnline: ‘My flight from Aberdeen to Luton was cancelled as we stood at the gate watching other easyJet passengers aboard a different flight and still managed to take off despite this so called “bad weather”.
‘We received a text over the app to say the flight was cancelled due to this. Then the lady at the gate then announced over the tannoy that it was cancelled as the plane had cabin crew but no pilot.’
The annoyed passenger added: ‘It is clear Easy Jet are at fault and are trying to get out of paying deserved compensation.’
The airline has been criticised over a lack of staff on the desks
Holidaymakers have reacted furiously to the news on social media
Passengers hoping to fly from Bristol to Rome yesterday were initially told their flight had been cancelled because the airline ‘couldn’t locate a member of the cabin crew’ only to later be told ‘bad weather was the cause’.
Rachel Lovell, from Newport, South Wales, who was waiting for the 5.40pm flight out of Bristol said she had to cancel her holiday all together as there were no more planes flying to the Italian city until Tuesday.
She told MailOnline: ‘They checked us in at the gate and then we were delayed, they told us it was because they couldn’t locate a member of cabin crew.
‘We were then sent back to the main departure lounge and at 18.40 got a text saying the flight had been cancelled.
‘Checked the app and the next flight out of Bristol wasn’t until Tuesday. As I was coming home Thursday there was no point booking it so I am out of pocket for a return flight I can’t use, cancellation fee at my hotel and cancellation of a trip I can’t go on that won’t refund.’
Emma Rowland who was also scheduled for the same flight added: ‘They called us to the boarding gate where we waited for a hour, we were told the flight was missing a crew member therefore waiting for them.
‘After another 30 min we were told to go back to the departure lounge and keep an eye on the flight board which stated gate closed. We then received a email stating due to bad weather our flight was cancelled this was 19.20pm.
‘Stranded at the airport the easyJet staff did not want to help. I looked on the app and it said we could get a refund or rebook but unfortunately no flights for the following day therefore rebooked for tomorrow.’
Sam Spencer, who was due to fly to Nice from Gatwick last night, told MailOnline: ‘The lady at the desk was polite but fairly unhelpful, the man on her radio literally told her, “Tell them all to s*d off”.’
EasyJet’s website stated that cancellations were due to ‘poor weather conditions across the UK and Europe’, which caused ‘extended air traffic control restrictions to all departures and arrivals’. This means that passengers will not be eligible for flight delay compensation, experts say.
Temperatures will hit at least 29C (84F) again today with storms also bubbling up
Thunderstorms caused chaos yesterday and more are on the way
Suspicious passengers claimed that the issue may have been due to a lack of air crew – not storms – because rivals at Gatwick such as Norwegian and British Airways are not suffering in the same way today. One critic tweeted: ‘Why only easyJet? Surely other airlines would cancel their flights because of the weather.’
British Airways confirmed to MailOnline today that it had ‘not experienced any disruption at Gatwick’.
David Matthews tweeted easyJet to say: ‘Our flight last night from Rhodes to Gatwick was eventually “delayed” to later today due to your flight crew hitting their allocated hours so unable to fly… and NOT due to the weather back in the UK. I fully expect compensation here. No excuses.’ MailOnline has asked easyJet to comment.
Victoria Maidens was meant to head to Greece last night. She claims that before the flight was axed staff had shouted at a deaf woman, denied food and water to a diabetic passenger and threatened people with arrest if they tried to leave the gate after three hours.
One victim, Jayne Thompson, shared a picture of the vast queues at Gatwick at 9.30pm last night, claiming there was no where to stay locally and the airline’s website stopped working. She is heavily pregnant.
Mark Whitaker has accused the company of being ‘in over their heads’. Mr Whitaker said that the airline offered ‘generally no communication’ and ‘no effective customer service’ in what he described as a ‘basic s*** show’.
And to make matters worse today, the Gatwick Express, which runs non-stop trains between the airport and Victoria station in central London, was suspended due to an ‘operational incident’.
EasyJet’s website stated that the disruption at the airport is ‘outside of our control and is considered to be an extraordinary circumstance’.
A spokesman for easyJet said: ‘Thunderstorms in the Gatwick area which restricted the number of arrivals and departures on Sunday unfortunately resulted in disruption at London Gatwick Airport, including some diversions and cancellations which is having a knock-on impact this morning as a number of aircraft are out of position.
‘We are doing all possible to minimise the impact on our customers, providing those on cancelled flights with options to rebook or receive a refund as well as hotel accommodation and meals where required.’
Victoria Maidens was due to fly to Corfu last night. They were called to the gate to leave Gatwick at around 5pm but then waited for three hours where they were threatened with arrest if they tried to leave.
She told MailOnline: ‘They never once mentioned the weather. They shouted at a deaf girl because she couldn’t hear the Tannoy. They wouldn’t let a diabetic woman get water or food. After three hours we were told we could get a bottle of water. We also had no phone service in the basement. Another two hours wait and they turned around and said sorry flight cancelled go and get your luggage. They didn’t register the flight as cancelled on the app for 2 hours so no one could transfer.
The sun glints on the Shard as commuters cross a sunny and hot London Bridge
Sunny weather on the River Cam, Cambridge, this morning
‘All easyJet flights to Corfu were fully booked for today anyway. There was no hotel availability at Gatwick and we waited 2 hours for an Uber to get home.
‘One family had come from America, another couple had driven 300 miles and couldn’t get a flight or a hotel. EasyJet couldn’t care less. Unbelievably horrendous experience that could have been made a bit easier with better trained staff and a bit of thought or care. I cannot tell you how awful the staff were.’
Gatwick airport said: ‘Air traffic control suspended flights while a storm passed over the South East.’
Meanwhile some British Airways customers including TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp reported problems with the airline’s app this morning.
She tweeted: ‘The app is usually pretty good and allows you to do quite a lot of things without calling up, but today it seems to be having a wobble.’
BA said in response that its IT teams were aware of ‘problems viewing upcoming flights’, but passengers should still be able to access their bookings by ‘logging into them directly’.
Yellow weather warnings for thunderstorms and rain are in place for much of the UK today, with warm temperatures set to linger throughout the week.
Four yellow thunderstorm warnings are in place from 12pm to 9pm today and cover parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, much of southern England and the Midlands and most of Wales.
The Met Office says people in these areas should be conscious of the potential for sudden flooding and transport difficulties.
Meanwhile, a yellow warning for rain has been released covering southern parts of England and Wales until 9am today.
The forecast follows a weekend of scorching temperatures and heavy rainfall.
The mercury hit 32C (89F) at Kew Gardens in south-west London on Sunday and much of the UK was hotter than Monaco and the French riviera where temperatures languished in the low 20s.
However, temperatures fell just short of this year’s record high of 32.2C (89.9F) which was reached on Saturday.
A total of 28.6mm of rain fell in Charlwood, Surrey, on Sunday afternoon, which is almost half the average for the whole month of June.
Met Office meteorologist Dan Stroud said: ‘One or two spots have had quite significant rainfall in a short period.
‘On Monday, we’re expecting a fine and hot start, temperatures rising fairly quickly during the course of the morning under strong early summer sunshine and that’s likely to spark a few thundery showers.
‘Parts of Wales and England will see 30mm of rain in an hour, 60 to 80mm in some spots.
‘North parts of Northern Ireland, south-west Scotland and the Highlands could see 20 to 30mm of rain in an hour during the thunderstorms, and 40 to 50mm in some spots.
‘Potentially we are looking at a month’s worth of rain falling. The highest temperatures will be around Birmingham and in Wales.
‘It will widely be 24C to 28C (75F 28F) to on Monday, with some spots sitting at the 30C to 32C (86F to 89F)mark.
‘It will be warmer than Monaco, where it has hit 24.7C on Sunday and is expected to be 22 to 24C on Monday.’
Slightly cooler temperatures are on the way from Tuesday onwards, with Thursday and Friday in the mid-high 20s, the forecaster added.
Mr Stroud said: ‘We are likely to see the hot weather continue although high pressure is starting to build in.
‘That’s going to kill off the showers and moving into next week the temperature will dip slightly to the mid to high 20s.’
The UK Health Security Agency has issued an amber alert for hot weather until 9am on Tuesday in the West Midlands, East Midlands, east of England, South East and South West.
A further yellow alert, which is less serious and says there may be some disruption to services due to weather conditions, is in place for the North East, North West and Yorkshire and Humber regions of England, as well as London.
The severe heat will bring thunderstorms to parts of the country later today
Meanwhile, Gatwick Express, which runs non-stop trains between the airport and central London, was suspended on Monday.
The operator said this was due to ‘urgent repairs to the track’ after a set of points – which allow trains to move from one line to another – were damaged in the East Croydon area.
Passengers travelling to or from the airport were advised to use Southern and Thameslink services, which are slower as they stop at intermediate stations.
EasyJet confirmed that ‘thunderstorm activity’ had impacted its operations at the West Sussex airport, causing a knock on effect as both aircraft and crew were out of position.
EasyJet’s website stated that cancellations were due to ‘poor weather conditions across the UK and Europe’, which caused ‘extended air traffic control restrictions to all departures and arrivals’.
One commuter told MailOnline that the ‘nightmare’ situation was ‘handled poorly by staff that clearly did not give a flying f*** and left us to fend for ourselves at 9pm’.
Other passengers have reacted furiously to the news on social media, deeming staff ‘useless’.
One user wrote: ‘Our flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport was cancelled last night we have been abandoned at Mercure Le Bourget. No info and no transfer back to the airport. Staff are useless.’
Others took aim at the airliner’s lack of ’empathy’ and ‘next to nothing compensation’.
One user slammed the airline for not putting enough staff on, saying ‘other companies have lots of attendants with no queues, because they are efficient’.
MailOnline has contacted easyJet for an updated statement.
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