Security cordon lifted and train services resume as travel plans are disrupted for thousands of people
Gatwick’s south terminal has reopened for passengers after a security alert caused disruption for thousands of people.
Sussex police said they had released two people after concluding their investigation into reports of a suspect package at the airport. A bomb disposal team made the package safe, the force added in a statement on X.
Continue reading...Assessment finds detention unit is subjecting families to ‘unnecessary suffering’ amid lengthy Home Office delays
Young children are being traumatised while held at a Gatwick airport deportation centre that should be closed down, a watchdog has found.
The independent monitoring board (IMB) also said the children’s parents were being subjected to “callous treatment and unnecessary suffering” because of the Home Office’s lengthy decision-making process over removals.
Children are witnessing or overhearing their parents’ “considerable distress” at their expected deportation, despite staff efforts to shield them.
Children are being asked by staff to translate for their distraught parents, despite having been taken from their homes and facing removal to a country they may know very little about.
The use of the Family PDA may prolong or add to trauma already experienced, particularly for children.
Continue reading...Results show increase in symptoms such as wheeziness in presence of high aviation-related ultrafine particles
As the public hearings for London Gatwick airport’s northern runway resume, researchers from the Netherlands have found greater inhaler use in children living near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
Stand close to a large airport and, if the wind is in the wrong direction, each cubic centimetre of air that you breathe will contain tens of thousands of ultrafine particles (UFP).
Continue reading...Travellers will have to wait another year for 100ml limit to be lifted after government extends deadline for new scanners
Holidaymakers will continue to face limits on the amount of liquid they can carry on flights out of the UK this summer after the government extended the deadline for airports to install new security scanners by a year.
The Department for Transport had previously set a target for the introduction of 3D scanners in all UK airports by 1 June, but this has now been extended by 12 months because some major airports will not be ready in time.
Continue reading...Airport will share 164 cancellations between airlines until Sunday as it seeks to avoid diversions
Thousands of passengers flying to and from Gatwick this week will have their flights cancelled after the airport announced a cap on movements because of a shortage of staff in air traffic control.
Gatwick imposed an immediate cap on Monday of 800 flights taking off or landing a day.
Continue reading...Temporary air traffic control restrictions led to 22 flights being cancelled and others diverted
Flights have been cancelled, delayed and rerouted at Gatwick due to short-notice staff absences in the air traffic control team, the airport has said.
The transport hub in West Sussex has apologised to those affected by the temporary air traffic control restrictions enforced on Thursday evening which led to 22 flights being cancelled.
Continue reading...Campaigners speak out amid suggestion government could reject Climate Change Committee’s advice
Rishi Sunak faces “electoral carnage” if the government rejects its climate advisers’ recommendations on halting airport expansion, a coalition of community groups have warned.
The prospect of a renewed political battle around airport growth in various parts of England has been reignited amid concern from campaigners at suggestions the government could reject the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) advice that all such expansions must be halted.
Continue reading...Demand for travel results in 41% rise but air traffic control industrial action across Europe affects timings
Passenger numbers at Gatwick airport soared to 19 million during the first six months of the year, according to its operator, although air traffic control strikes across Europe contributed to an increase in delayed departures and landings.
Demand for travel resulted in 41% more passengers travelling through the airport between January and June compared with 2022 – when Covid restrictions were still in place – Gatwick said as it released half-year results.
Continue reading...Transport minister rules out cyber-attack after hundreds of flights to and from the UK cancelled
Flight passengers will be affected by UK air traffic control failures for days, the transport secretary has warned as he urged airlines to step up and fulfil their responsibilities to passengers.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mark Harper said National Air Traffic Services (Nats), which provides the air traffic control systems in the UK, had apologised for the disruption, adding: “I’d like to add my apology to that.”
Continue reading...National air traffic services say they have fixed the issue that has caused a network-wide failure but significant flights backlog remains
Here are some photos from Heathrow airport after a network failure caused issues with UK air traffic control, leading to major delays.
The Liberal Democrats have said the prime minister should call a Cobra meeting after a technical fault hit air traffic control in the UK.
Rishi Sunak and his ministers need to get a grip on this issue urgently and hold a Cobra meeting.
Millions of holidaymakers could be facing huge disruption in the coming days due to this fault and we can’t risk this government being missing in action yet again.
Continue reading...Despite the Climate Change Committee’s warnings to stop growing capacity, Gatwick is gearing up for another try at a second runway
So what bit of “no new airport capacity” did airports not understand? The Climate Change Committee (CCC) spelled it out again on Wednesday: flying accounted for 7% of UK carbon emissions last year, the trend is upwards, and more airport capacity is “incompatible” with national net zero targets.
Of course, they’ve said it before: but as the committee noted in its 2023 progress report, airports have since have been racing to expand. This time, hammering it home, the CCC says that no expansion at all should go ahead until the government sorts out a proper way to manage it.
Continue reading...Detectives hope to identify man, whose body was found on a Tui flight from the Gambia on 7 December
Police have released a digitised image of a man who was found dead in the undercarriage of a plane, as they work to identify him.
The man’s body was found on a Tui flight from the Gambia to the UK. His body was discovered at Gatwick airport at about 4am on 7 December, Sussex police said at the time.
Continue reading...Hours-long delays were reported as IT problems also caused disruption on Dover-Calais ferries
Passengers arriving at major airports in the UK at the start of the bank holiday weekend faced long delays after problems with electronic passport gates.
Travellers expressed their anger on social media over queues of several hours at a number of airports including Heathrow and Gatwick as arrivals had their passports checked by hand instead of the automated machines.
Continue reading...Spokesperson says 12 incoming flights affected during almost hour-long suspension due to alert
Incoming flights were suspended at Gatwick airport for almost an hour on Sunday after reports of a drone near the airfield.
Gatwick said 12 incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports because of the alert.
Continue reading...Passengers faced average 30-minute wait, slightly worse than Manchester during 2022’s travel chaos
Passengers flying from Birmingham airport experienced the longest delays in the UK last year, official figures show.
Flight departures from Birmingham were on average half an hour behind schedule in 2022, marginally worse than Manchester, in a year marked by chaos for travellers.
Continue reading...Airport says it will not extend restraints beyond end of month, as it reveals first-half profit of £50.6m
Gatwick airport has said it is back to “business as usual” and will not need to extend its capacity restraints beyond the end of the month.
The company said normal operations have resumed following months of strain on airports and airlines across Europe amid a surge in demand and staff shortages as pandemic restrictions eased.
Continue reading...Number of flights in August will be below pre-pandemic levels to ensure those on sale are ‘deliverable’
Gatwick airport will reduce its summer capacity to ward off potential chaos, after dozens of last-minute cancellations wrecked the travel plans of holidaymakers over the platinum jubilee and half-term holiday.
London’s second busiest airport will limit the number of daily take-offs and landings to 850 in August – about 50 more than the average in early June, but more than 10% below its pre-pandemic maximum.
Continue reading...Rebounding demand and a string of last-minute flight cancellations have compounded half-term travel woes
Holidaymakers are facing flight cancellations and the prospect of delays on the road as half-term starts and the UK gears up for an extended bank holiday weekend.
The June half-term traditionally heralds the start of the summer tourist season, and this year comes amid rebounding consumer demand for leisure breaks following the relaxation of UK Covid travel restrictions.
Continue reading...EasyJet cancelled 14 flights, while ferry passengers at Dover face queues, and jams await drivers
Half-term holidaymakers are navigating the busiest day at British airports since the start of the pandemic with some hit by further flight cancellations, while cross-Channel ferry passengers face long queues at Dover and drivers are warned to expect jams.
EasyJet cancelled 14 more flights at London Gatwick in the early morning peak, in the aftermath of IT problems on Thursday that took out 200 of its flights around Europe.
Continue reading...Airline forced to scrap 200 flights due for early afternoon takeoff and delay many others as a result
Airline passengers faced fresh disruption on Thursday after an IT glitch forced easyJet to cancel about 200 flights around Europe.
The airline scrapped a stream of flights due to take off between 1pm and 3pm, affecting dozens to and from UK airports, including its biggest base at Gatwick.
Continue reading...