Gatwick Airport chaos: easyJet reveals compensation options for customers after nationwide air traffic control network failure

Gatwick Airport said ‘delays and cancellations are likely’ after the UK's air traffic control system was hit by a network failure on one of the busiest days of the year.

National Air Traffic Controllers said they are currently experiencing a technical issue, which will result in flight delays today (Monday, August 28).

Thousands of passengers are said to be stranded at airports – including some sat on their planes now unable to take-off. Passengers have reportedly also been unable to get into the UK on this Bank Holiday Monday. Click here to follow live updates.

EasyJet issued a statement on X (formerly Twitter) this afternoon, which read: “We have been advised of an Air Traffic Control systems failure affecting UK airspace, which is currently causing disruption to flying programmes for airlines operating to and from the UK.

“We are providing customers on cancelled flights with the option to transfer their flight free of charge or receive a refund and recommend that all passengers flying with us today, regardless of their destination, check the status of their flight on our Flight Tracker for real time information before travelling to the airport.

“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is our highest priority and while these circumstances are outside of our control, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused and to reassure customers that we are doing everything possible to minimise the impact of the disruption.”

See also: Bank holiday travel chaos expected after UK air traffic control network failure; these are the flights cancelled or delayed so far today at Gatwick Airport