easyJet half-term chaos: Budget airline will cancel 240 flights from Gatwick in half-term

Simon Calder issues warning about EasyJet

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According to reports, easyJet is set to cancel 240 flights from Gatwick in the next 10 days. British families with half-term holidays booked could be affected.

Over 200 flights are set to be cancelled during the busiest holiday period since before the pandemic, according to The Independent.

The airline will cut 24 flights per day from May 28 to June 6 in a move that could ruin half-term holidays.

Saturday’s cancellations include flights to popular destinations such as Portugal and Spain.

easyJet told Express.co.uk: “Over the next week we will be operating around 1,700 flights per day, with around a quarter of these operating to and from Gatwick.

“We have taken the decision to make advance cancellations of around 24 Gatwick flights per day starting from tomorrow 28 May until 6 June.

“We are very sorry for the late notice of some of these cancellations and inconvenience caused for customers booked on these flights however we believe this is necessary to provide reliable services over this busy period.

“Customers are being informed from today and provided with the option to rebook their flight or receive a refund and can apply for compensation in line with regulations.”

Customers will be able to apply for compensation in line with regulations due to the chaos.

The cancellations are the latest bad news following a series of issues for the budget airline.

On May 26, easyJet was forced to cancel over 100 flights after the airline suffered “systems issues”.

Flights scheduled to depart between 3pm and 6pm were grounded as the airline dealt with the IT failures.

One passenger described the scene at the airport as “chaos” with passengers unsure what to do.

easyJet also cancelled many flights during the month of May due to staff shortages which have affected the whole industry.

The budget airline is to remove a row of seating from its planes so it can operate flights with fewer crew members.

A plane with 150 passengers can operate with three cabin crew instead of four which may ease pressure.

Passengers with cancelled flights are entitled to another flight on a rival airline if one is available.

Passengers are also entitled to compensation for late notice cancellations according to travel expert Simon Calder.

He told BBC News that passengers should receive £220 for flights travelling under 1,500km and £350 for people travelling over that.

British tourists will need to check if they are eligible for compensation under current legislation.

The cancellations may cause chaos for many British families eager to get away for a break during May half-term.

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