London Gatwick Airport has canceled dozens of easyJet flights after air traffic controllers called in sick. The airport had previously announced it would not extend its daily flight cap beyond August before scrapping the flights on short notice today.

Gatwick cancels 26 easyJet flights

26 of 180 easyJet flights scheduled at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) on Tuesday have been canceled on short notice as the airport struggles with staff shortages. In this case, the absences are air traffic controllers calling in sick, affecting 13 departures and 13 arrivals operated by low-cost carrier easyJet. A Gatwick Airport spokesperson said,

"Restrictions were put on the number of flights that can arrive into Gatwick due to late-notice staff absence in the airport’s control tower. Some flights throughout the day may unfortunately be delayed or canceled as a result. Gatwick would like to apologize for any inconvenience this will cause to our passengers."

Air traffic control employees at Gatwick Airport are provided by Air Navigation Solutions (ANS), which also employs ATC staff at Edinburgh Airport. London's second-busiest airport, like other airports across Europe, has suffered from staff shortages this year as the industry struggles to keep up with rising demand for air travel.

June was a particularly bad month for Gatwick, which saw the airport cancel around one in 14 scheduled flights, the highest rate out of all major UK airports.

Business as usual?

The timing of these short-notice cancelations couldn't have been worse following an earlier declaration from Gatwick Airport that it was "now very much operating business as usual." In its half-year results released yesterday, the airport revealed profits after tax of £50.6 million ($59.5 million), a huge improvement on the £244.6 million ($287.6 million) losses incurred over the first half of 2021.

Gatwick recruited over 400 new security staff in time for the summer as passengers faced long queues and delays during the peak travel season.

Discover more aviation news with Simple Flying.

Flight cap to be scrapped

On the plus side, Gatwick has revealed that its daily flight cap won't be extended beyond the end of this month. In June, the airport announced it would permit a maximum of 825 flights in July and 850 in August to guarantee passengers "a more reliable and better standard of service."

Stewart Wingate, Chief Executive Officer at Gatwick Airport, said,

"The unprecedented growth in traffic led to short-term operational issues in June, however our decisive early action to limit the airport’s capacity in the crucial school holiday period of July and August has ensured passengers have experienced reliable flight timetables over the summer months. We are now very much operating business as usual and do not see any reason to extend the capacity declaration."

On the contrary, London Heathrow Airport announced last week that it would be extending its flight cap to October, with a limit of 100,000 passengers per day in place until October 29th.

Have you flown out of London Gatwick Airport this summer? Did you witness any of the travel chaos? Let us know your stories in the comments.