London Gatwick has implemented a temporary limit on daily flights on Monday, effective immediately, due to a shortage of air traffic control staff caused by illness, including COVID.
Gatwick imposed an immediate flight cap, since Monday (Sept 25), of 800 flights landing or taking off per day until Sunday, October 1, reports reuters.com.
This will result in the cancellation of 164 flights and affect about 8 000 passengers.
"The action we have taken today means our airlines can fly reliable flight programmes, which gives passengers more certainty that they will not face last-minute cancellations," Gatwick CEO, Stewart Wingate, said in a statement.
Air traffic control provider, NATS, said about a third of the staff in Gatwick’s air traffic control were unavailable due to variety of medical reasons, including COVID.
According to thenationalnews.com, the daily cap was implemented to prevent last-minute cancellations and delays for passengers, who are being encouraged to check their flight status with airlines.
“We are working closely with NATS to build resilience in the control tower and this decision means we can prevent as much disruption as possible. London Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers who have been impacted by these restrictions,” said Wingate.
