UK airport chaos: Ryanair boss calls for air traffic chief to resign

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The Independent’s Travel Correspondent Simon Calder reports:

After cancelling more than 250 flights between Friday and Monday – affecting around 40,000 passengers – British Airways has issued a statement pinning responsibility on air-traffic control problems across Europe.

A BA spokesperson said: “We operate hundreds of flights every day without disruption, successfully getting tens of thousands of our customers to where they need to be.

“Along with other airlines, we’ve had to make some small adjustments to our schedule because of air traffic control restrictions caused by adverse weather.

“Whilst the vast majority of our customers will be unaffected, we apologise for any inconvenience caused and our teams are working hard to help get journeys back on track.”

Under passengers’ rights rules, British Airways must provide alternative flights as soon as possible and, if necessary, hotel rooms.

Tackling issues with Europe’s airspace is “long overdue” and will speed up flights, a minister has said.

Aviation minister Mike Kane said UK airspace management is “an analogue system in a digital age”, and improvements will lead to “quicker, quieter, cleaner flights”.

He was speaking at an easyJet sustainability event at Cranfield University, where the airline said inefficient use of airspace contributes to increases in fuel consumption, carbon emissions and flight times.

The carrier described the problem as a “universal issue” across the whole of Europe, but the “greatest inefficiencies” for its operations are in the UK.

Among the causes are aircraft being required to climb in steps after take-off, complex routing, and delaying descents to manage the workload of air traffic control (ATC) staff.

A spokesperson for easyJet said: “Nats air-traffic control staffing shortages at Gatwick led to a significantly reduced flow rate being imposed on all airlines today which is resulting in flights to and from Gatwick airport being subject to disruption including some cancellations.

“We are extremely disappointed that customers are once again being impacted by this and while this is outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused.

“We are doing all possible to minimise the impact of the disruption and have notified those on cancelled flights of their options to rebook or receive a refund and are providing hotel accommodation and meals where required.”

You can go to a claims handler such as AirHelp, but be warned that the company will keep between 35 and 50 per cent of any payout (the higher amount if court action is involved).

Another course of action is alternative dispute resolution, but The Independent has serious reservations about some of the decisions of these arbiters.

Writing a Letter Before Action – warning that you will go to Money Claim Online if you do not get a positive response within two weeks – is worth trying, so long as you follow through. For a £350 claim the fee is £50, which is refunded if you win.

Since Brexit UK citizens no longer have access to the European Small Claims Procedure, so if you are chasing compensation on a flight originating in the EU it might be easiest to go through a claims handler.

You are due hundreds of pounds in compensation if the airline:

• gives you less than 14 days’ notice of the cancellation and cannot find an alternative way to get you to your destination close to the original departure and arrival times, and
• is responsible for the cancellation – ie it cannot plead “extraordinary circumstances” as causing the grounding of the flight.

The payment varies according to the length of the trip. There is also a slight variation depending on whether the flight starts in the UK or the EU. (After Brexit the UK retained largely identical legislation but with amounts in sterling, not euros).

• Under 1,500km, for example London to Nice: £220 or €250
• 1,500-3,500km, such as Manchester-Malaga: £350 or €400
• Above 3,500km, e g Birmingham-Dubai: £520 or €600

If the airline can get you to your destination within two/three/four hours respectively of the expected time, the compensation is halved.

Around 3,500 passengers expecting to fly to or from London Gatwick on 20 flights on Monday morning have been grounded.

Most are booked on EasyJet, which cancelled its first flight of the day, to Ibiza, and six others including links to Naples and Nice.

Passengers were told the cause was “air-traffic control restrictions” and outside the airline’s control.

The cancellations are in addition to 64 flights grounded by easyJet on Sunday due to short-notice staff shortage in Gatwick’s control tower.

EasyJet said on Sunday evening that it was “extremely disappointed that customers are once again being impacted by this”.

In terms of the sheer scale of disruption over one of the busiest weekends of the year, British Airways passengers trying to fly to or from London Heathrow have been worst affected.

Between Friday and Sunday BA cancelled 240 flights, affecting around 40,000 passengers. On Monday the airline had grounded a further eight departures and arrivals at Heathrow, plus six at Gatwick.

Gatwick flights have frequently been disrupted due to ATC staffing issues.

Analysis of data from flight tracking website FlightRadar24 shows 49 departures and 51 arrivals were cancelled on Sunday between 3pm and midnight, affecting more than 16,000 passengers.

Many other flights were delayed.