Major disruption at Gatwick Airport after runway closes
Travelers experienced significant delays at Gatwick Airport because one of the runways had to be shut down due to an issue with a British Airways plane's brakes overheating.
Fire trucks at the airport led the plane away from the runway on what is thought to be the busiest day of the year, with 23 flights cancelled because of it.
Many people are now experiencing more problems, as the Gatwick airport website displays delays for at least 13 flights scheduled to depart between 2pm and 3.30pm.
The airport's landing strip was opened again after a delay of 50 minutes. During that time, Gatwick reported that 16 incoming flights were redirected to other airports.
"Safety comes first for us, and the airport's specialized fire service at London Gatwick quickly responded to assist the aircraft," a representative from the airport informed Sky News.
The airport runway is currently back in service and running on schedule. A total of twenty-three flights had to be canceled, leading to some delays as a result.
We are collaborating with the airlines and other partners at the airport to reduce any interruptions. Travelers are advised to reach out to their airlines directly for the most up-to-date flight details.
British Airways stated that pilots made a "precautionary" decision and expressed regret for any inconvenience caused.
"Our pilots decided to cancel the takeoff as a precaution because of a technical problem," a representative stated. "Ensuring safety is our main concern and we regret any inconvenience this may have caused to our customers."
Travel specialist Simon Calder informed Sky News that diversions and delays are causing a ripple effect, resulting in a flight from Dubai being redirected to Brussels after circling Gatwick.
He mentioned that he had a conversation with a traveler whose flight was redirected to Heathrow. The passenger is currently unable to disembark until they secure a schedule for departure from the airport and arrival at Gatwick.
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"The cancellations just keep piling up," he mentioned.
"Due to the incorrect placement of aircraft crew passengers, it is likely that we will experience significant delays and potentially more flight cancellations as the day progresses."
Several flights have been delayed by an extended period, one of them being a Wizz Air flight to Malaga originally set to leave at 3:25pm, but now rescheduled for 7:30pm.
A British Airways flight scheduled to depart for Dubrovnik at 4.45pm has been postponed to 8.45pm.
Gatwick Airport holds the title of being the most active airport with only one runway in the world.
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This past Sunday, all flights departing from two terminals at Manchester Airport were cancelled due to a significant power failure. The disruption continued into Monday causing further travel chaos.
In May, nine airports across the country experienced disruptions due to a problem with the border control system. Stansted and Gatwick specifically mentioned that the issue was with the electronic gates at passport control.
