2023-09-26 00:35:57
London’s Gatwick Airport announced on Monday September 25 that it would be forced to cancel more than 160 flights between now and Sunday due to an exceptional shortage of controllers, particularly due to cases of Covid-19.
The number of flights will be limited “at 800 per day” (at departure and arrival) and this “until Saturday October 1st”the airport said in a press release, specifying that the decision was taken in agreement with NATS, the British air traffic control authority.
This daily ceiling “will help avoid last minute cancellations and delays for passengers while NATS resolves issues related to [arrêts] illness and staff constraints », further details the press release. 30% of controllers are currently unavailable “for various medical reasons, including Covid”he says.
Giant breakdown at the end of August
“This was a difficult decision but the action we are taking today [lundi] means that airlines will be able to fly on a reliable flight schedule”explained Stewart Wingate, director of London Gatwick, London’s second most important airport behind Heathrow.
Read also: Investigation announced in the United Kingdom following a giant air traffic control failure
These difficulties affecting the British air traffic control authority come following a giant breakdown at the end of August which led to the cancellation of nearly 2,000 flights over two days and numerous delays.
The British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced an independent investigation into “the wider issues around the system failure and how NATS responded to the incident”.
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