British low-cost airline Easyjet has suffered computer problems which led it to cancel some 200 flights, following having already had to cancel several hundred due to lack of staff in recent weeks.
“We apologize to customers whose flights have been disrupted by our computer system issues, you can check your flight status here,” the company tweeted late Thursday.
Easyjet initially indicated that flights scheduled to depart between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. would be canceled but later added that the disruptions might last despite the resolution of the technical problem.
Many travelers have found themselves at the airport at the last moment with a canceled flight without an alternative solution.
Devan Lonsdale, 24, told the PA agency he flew from Newcastle, northeast England, with 8 friends to Manchester Airport, northwest England, for a scheduled flight at 1:20 p.m.
“We were called to the boarding gate at 12.35 p.m. and boarding was supposed to end at 12.50 p.m. but had not started at 1 p.m.,” he said, adding that travelers were informed one by one that the flight was canceled with no replacement offered.
‘We had to pay for a hotel in Manchester and have to go home (Thursday). We looked for alternative flights to Prague and other destinations for a reasonable price to be able to use the days off we asked but only found flights over 500 pounds with multiple stopovers,’ he said. he continued, annoyed.
The company clarified that travelers might request the compensation ‘provided for in the regulations’.
Easyjet recently said it was removing six seats from its A319s in the UK to limit its staffing needs in the face of flight attendant shortages which have already led it to cancel hundreds of flights
The company published in May a reduced net loss in the first half of its staggered financial year thanks to the recovery of post-lockdown air traffic, and is optimistic for the summer.
/ATS
