EasyJet cancels flights for 180,000 passengers as summer holiday travel chaos strikes

EasyJet has reassured customers that 95 per cent of affected travellers have been rebooked onto alternative flights, though this leaves 9,000 travellers over July, August and September so far unaccounted for.

Under European laws, which still apply to post-Brexit Britain, passengers whose flights have been cancelled are entitled to travel on any other airline should it have seats available on the same day, at easyJet's expense.

Those passengers whose flights have been grounded with less than two weeks' notice are entitled to cash compensation of £220 (£350 for flights over 1,500km), unless easyJet can rebook them onto a flight close to the original time.

A spokesperson for easyJet said: "We are currently operating up to around 1,800 flights and carrying around 250,000 customers per day and like all airlines, we review our flights on an ongoing basis.

“As Eurocontrol has stated, the whole industry is seeing challenging conditions this summer with more constrained air space due to the war in Ukraine resulting in unprecedented ATC [air-traffic control] delays, as well as further potential ATC strike action.

“We have therefore made some pre-emptive adjustments to our programme consolidating a small number of flights at Gatwick, where we have multiple daily frequencies, in order to help mitigate these external challenges on the day of travel for our customers.

“Customers whose flights are affected are being informed, with 95 per cent of customers being rebooked onto an alternative flight and all customers provided with the option to rebook or receive a refund.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused.”

This comes as air traffic controllers have warned that one in ten European flights are at risk of delays or cancellation this summer.

As a result of industry walk-outs, up to 12,600 flights a day could be disrupted, an industry source told The Times.

They warned: "In a full-blown strike, 20 to 30 per cent of flights would be at least delayed. They are big numbers.'"

European traffic controllers have this week threatened to strike in a dispute over staffing levels, as unions demand bosses replace staff who retired during the pandemic.

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Some in the industry see the air traffic controller blame as a deflection, or at least an issue that could be worked around with adequate planning.

Paul Charles, chief executive of the travel consultancy, PC Agency, said: "I've been warning for some time that our UK airport infrastructure, along with continuing people shortages at airlines and ground handlers, cannot cope with the massive summer demand.

"Just when you thought you had secured a flight to your summer holiday paradise, it gets changed and causes more inconvenience and stress.

"Airlines have to get better at planning and delivering, not letting down customers at short notice.

"EasyJet aren't the first and won't be the last to take such action this summer."

EasyJet currently operates 1800 flights a day, adding up to 90,000 flights over the period affected.