Stranded holidaymakers clash after Gatwick suspended all flights

Stranded holidaymakers have attacked the ‘disgusting’ service after Gatwick Airport suspended all flights yesterday afternoon.

Passengers faced massive delays, last-minute diversions to other London airports and missed connections after a British Airways Boeing 777 flight was forced to make an emergency stop on the runway due to ‘hot brakes’.

This caused chaos for thousands of Britons hoping to start the summer with a holiday, as all flights taking off or landing at the airport were temporarily suspended.

An unhappy traveler told MailOnline she was supposed to enjoy a glass of wine in Corfu but instead had a cup of tea at home after being told the next available flight was on Sunday.

The passenger said: ‘I should be drinking wine in a taverna in Corfu, but instead I’m sitting on the sofa inside drinking a cup of tea!’

‘Can’t get another flight until Sunday (MUCH more expensive than the cancelled flight), so 2 days lost of my much longer and much needed vacation.’

The cancellation also led to unexpected costs for the passenger who claims she is now ‘massively out of pocket’.

She added: ‘It’s a knock-on effect: we left our car in the car park where we were picked up, so we had to pay for a taxi home. We also have to pay for a taxi back to the airport on Sunday. We bought bottles of duty free drinks that we can’t take back to the airport. That sounds very childish, but when you have a very tight budget, every cent counts and we spend a huge amount of money on a shortened holiday!’

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‘The scenes at the airport were terrible, one lady was so distraught she fainted, families were crying. Easyjet staff literally didn’t exist!’

Someone else told MailOnline about the ‘terrible and extremely poor service’ their elderly parents experienced after being stranded in Santorini.

Their parents had a return flight from the Greek island at 1:30pm, but it was eventually cancelled at 8pm.

They added: ‘They were put up in a basic hotel for one night and had to go to the airport at 10.15am this morning, despite their flight not being due to leave until 9pm local time and because they had no availability on an earlier flight, meaning they spent almost 2 days at the airport.

‘The flight they were supposed to fly on has been delayed until 11pm, without any actual confirmation that it will actually depart.’

They claimed: ‘Absolutely disgusting and appalling customer service with extremely poor communication and minimal information provided. Yesterday they were told it was a technical fault with the aircraft and this morning it was still the same despite them having had ample time to sort this and other flights that had departed before them.

‘They don’t carry any cash and therefore rely on the minimum vouchers that easyJet provides.’

Others have had special occasions affected by flight cancellations.

A pair of holidaymakers, Trish and Oliver McShane, had their flights for their son’s 40th birthday celebrations canceled just 15 minutes in advance.

They said: ‘Our flight from Belfast to London Gatwick was cancelled with 15 minutes notice today, 28/06/24, we were due to celebrate our son’s 40th birthday, there are no alternative flights available other than flying to Southampton or Manchester, my husband is 82 years old and has special needs, a sad weekend for the family.’

A London Gatwick spokesman said: “The main runway was closed for 50 minutes yesterday (28 June) due to a departing aircraft with overheated brakes. Safety is our highest priority and London Gatwick Airport Fire Brigade was quickly on the scene to support the aircraft. The runway is now open and operating normally.

Yesterday, 16 flights were diverted and 23 flights cancelled. There were also a number of delays due to the negative consequences.

“Today we continue to work with our airlines and other airport partners to minimize disruption. There have been some cancellations due to European weather and the impact of yesterday’s runway closure. Passengers should contact their airline directly for the latest flight information.”

An easyJet spokesperson said: ‘Like all airlines operating in European airspace, easyJet’s flight program experienced some disruption yesterday, 28 June, due to weather conditions and ATC delays.

‘Due to the closure of the runway at Gatwick Airport, some flights were affected, with six incoming flights having to be diverted to other London airports. While the runway was subsequently reopened, traffic flow restrictions were put in place, which unfortunately resulted in some cancellations to the programme to and from Gatwick yesterday afternoon.

‘We have made every effort to minimize the impact on our customers whose flights were affected, by offering hotel accommodation and meals, as well as a refund or a transfer to an alternative flight, and advising customers that they should receive compensation be reimbursed for the costs if they had arranged this themselves.

“The safety and well-being of our customers is our highest priority. While this was beyond our control, we apologize for any inconvenience.”

A British Airways spokesperson said: “The safety of our customers and crew is always our priority, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused following a rejected takeoff at Gatwick Airport.”

Earlier they said: ‘As a precaution, our pilots decided to cancel the take-off due to a technical problem.

“Safety is always our top priority and we apologize to our customers for any inconvenience.”

MailOnline has contacted Easyjet for comment.

It’s a problem again this week for families who want to get away this summer.

Families flying from Birmingham Airport faced long security queues, with one passenger describing it as a ‘health and safety disaster’.

Travellers using the airport have been forced to wait several hours to get through the terminal in recent weeks after a £60m security hall opened.

The new space will eventually allow passengers to leave liquids up to two litres and large electrical items in their carry-on luggage while going through security, but new government restrictions mean passengers will still only be allowed to carry 100ml bottles.

Video recorded earlier this week today showed a long line of cars waiting to enter the drop-off zone. Witness Olly Carruthers said it was ‘chaos’ and the area was ‘completely broken and deteriorating’.

Another traveler said he had waited more than an hour at 5.30am this morning and still had not arrived at the lifts to get through security – with 1,000 people in line.

The airport – which also denied the figure of 1,000 people in the queue – said staff removed 0.8 tonnes of liquids, pastes and gels from containers that exceeded the 100ml hand luggage limit between 3.30am and 7am.