Services began again at 7.10pm but airport warns that there may be further delays

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Gatwick airport suspended all inbound and outbound flights for around two hours on Wednesday due to an “air traffic control system issue”.

Eight flights into Gatwick, in West Sussex, were cancelled and 26 diverted before operations resumed at 7.10pm and passengers were warned there would be further delays into the evening, with the airport advising them to check with their airlines.

Travellers in Gothenburg, Bilbao, Bergen and elsewhere had to reschedule their plans, while planes from a number of European cities including Montpellier, Kraków, and Paphos were diverted elsewhere, mainly to Stansted and Luton airports.

Flights were suspended just after 5pm, although a small number of flights were allowed to land after the suspension began.

The UK’s second busiest airport had released a statement on Twitter saying it was “working with ANS [Air Navigation Systems], our provider, to rectify this issue as quickly as possible”.

It apologised and advised passengers to contact airlines to check their flight information.

After flights started again at 7.10pm, an airport spokesman said: “Flights have resumed at Gatwick following an earlier issue with the systems operated by ANS in our air traffic control tower. As we move back into full operations, we are likely to see some delays and further cancellations this evening.

“We apologise to passengers who have been affected and are aiming to operate a full schedule of flights tomorrow. We continue to advise all passengers travelling tonight or tomorrow to check the status of their flight with their airline before travelling to the airport.”

European air safety organisation Eurocontrol said a technical issue meant arrivals and departures information would be unavailable until 9pm, while the exact nature of the issue in the airport’s control tower that triggered the suspension remained unclear.

EasyJet said on its website: “The disruption to your flight is beyond our control and is considered an extraordinary circumstance. Whilst outside of our control, we apologise for the inconvenience this may cause to your journey.”

Passengers affected by the disruption were warned by an independent expert that they were unlikely to be compensated by their airline because the delays were caused by the air traffic control system. However, delays or cancelled flights could be covered by travel insurance.

It follows the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights at the airport over three days last December, affecting more than 140,000 passengers, after repeated drone sightings forced it to close the runway.

Earlier this month, a senior Sussex police officer said Gatwick’s defences against a similar incident were “now fit for purpose”, and that its “drone plan” had been based “around a single drone incursion and not a multiple one”.

“We have now got the mitigation technology in place, I wish we had that in December,” Sussex police’s Supt Justin Burtenshaw said.