Thousands of passengers hit by flight cancellations at Heathrow and Gatwick

Two of the UK's busiest airports are facing major cancellations.

Thousands of passengers have been left in airport lounges as two airports have grounded flights.

Both Heathrow and Gatwick Airports have cancelled more than 32 flights – affecting EasyJet and British Airways passengers.

Bad weather and issues with air traffic control have been cited as reasons for the travel chaos as more than 10,000 passengers are sleeping in the airports and left without a way home.

EasyJet passengers hoping for a refund will be disappointed to know that they likely won’t get their money back, as air traffic control restrictions are considered ‘extraordinary circumstances’.

Passengers heading to and from destinations including Lanzarote, Budapest, Venice, Belfast, Edinburgh, Rome, Naples, Barcelona and Larnaca have all been affected.

Ryanair has also issued a statement: ‘ATC services, which have had the benefit of no French ATC strike disruption this summer, continue to underperform with repeated ‘staff shortages’.

‘We apologise to our passengers for these repeated ATC flight delays which are deeply regrettable but beyond Ryanair’s control.’

One passenger wrote on X that their flight was cancelled after the passengers had arrived at the gate in Gatwick.

Phil said: ‘After a one hour delay, we were told the crew were out of hours. We were left stranded.’

Yesterday, Gatwick Airport wrote on X: ‘Poor weather, including numerous thunderstorms, across the UK and much of Europe, are causing some delays at the airport this afternoon.

‘London Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers whose journeys have been impacted.’

Some passengers shared their experience of spending four hours sitting on tarmac at Gatwick Airport due to bad weather.

One plane flying from Stuggart to Heathrow was struck by lightning yesterday, forcing it to divert to Gatwick Airport.

Passenger Jeco, who shared an image of the lightning bolt on X, said: ‘The crew were amazing when our flight got struck by lightning on the approach to Heathrow.

‘It was shocking. The flight had to divert to Gatwick.’

Commercial passenger planes are thought to be hit by lightning once or two each year, according to the USA’s National Weather Service.

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