'I should be sipping wine in a Corfu taverna but instead I'm drinking tea on my sofa!' Stranded holidaymakers hit out at 'disgusting' service after Gatwick suspended all flights

Stranded holidaymakers person deed retired astatine the 'disgusting' work aft Gatwick Airport suspended each flights yesterday afternoon. 

Passengers faced monolithic delays, last-minute diversions to different London airports and missed connections aft a Boeing 777 British Airways formation had to marque an exigency halt connected the runway owed to 'having blistery brakes'.

This sparked chaos for thousands of Brits hoping to footwear summertime disconnected with a vacation arsenic immoderate flights owed to instrumentality disconnected oregon onshore astatine the airdrome were temporarily suspended. 

One unlucky traveller told MailOnline however she should beryllium enjoying a solid of vino successful Corfu but was alternatively having a cupful of beverage astatine location aft being told the adjacent disposable formation was connected Sunday. 

The rider said: 'I should beryllium sipping vino successful a taverna successful Corfu, alternatively I'm present supping a cupful of beverage sitting connected my sofa indoors! 

'Can't get different formation until Sunday (a LOT much costly than the cancelled flight) truthful 2 days mislaid of my overmuch longer for and needed holiday.'

The cancellation besides led to unexpected costs for the rider who claims she is present 'massively retired of pocket'.

She added: 'It's the sound connected effect, we near our car successful conscionable and greet car park, truthful we had to wage for a cab home, volition request to wage for a cab backmost to the airdrome connected Sunday, we purchased bottles of work escaped drinks that we can't instrumentality backmost done the airdrome with us, sounds precise petty, but erstwhile you're connected a truly choky budget, each penny counts and we're mowing massively retired of pouch for a shortened holiday! 

'The scenes astatine the airdrome was awful, a woman was truthful distraught she fainted, families were crying. Easyjet unit were virtually non existent!'

Someone other told MailOnline of the 'terrible and highly mediocre service' their aged parents experienced aft they became stranded successful Santorini. 

Their parents had a formation location from the Greek land astatine 1.30pm but it was yet cancelled astatine 8pm.

They added: 'They were enactment up overnight astatine a basal edifice and forced to be the airdrome this greeting astatine 10.15am contempt their formation not owed to instrumentality disconnected until 9.00pm section clip and having nary availability connected an earlier formation meaning they person spent astir 2 days astatine the airport. 

'The formation they are owed to alert connected has further been delayed to 11pm with nary existent confirmation it volition instrumentality off.'

They claimed: 'Utterly disgusting and appalling lawsuit work with highly mediocre connection minimal accusation given, yesterday they were told it was a method responsibility with the craft and this greeting it was inactive the aforesaid contempt having ample clip to benignant this and different flights departing earlier them.

'They person nary currency connected them truthful are relying connected the minimal vouchers that easyJet are providing.' 

Others person had peculiar occasions impacted by the formation cancellations.  

A brace of holidaymakers, Trish and Oliver McShane, had their formation for their son's 40th day solemnisation travel cancelled with lone 15 minutes notice.

They said: 'We had our formation from Belfast to London Gatwick cancelled with 15 minutes announcement contiguous 28/06/24, we were going to observe our son's 40th birthday, nary alternate flights disposable but alert to either Southampton oregon Manchester, my hubby is 82 years aged and has peculiar assistance, a bittersweet play for the family.'

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: 'The main runway was closed for 50 minutes yesterday(28 June) owed to a departing craft having blistery brakes. Safety is our apical precedence and London Gatwick's dedicated airdrome occurrence work swiftly attended to enactment the aircraft. The runway is present unfastened and operating arsenic normal.

'Yesterday 16 flights were diverted and 23 flights were cancelled and determination were a fig of delays owed to the knock-on impact.

'Today we proceed to enactment with our airlines and different airdrome partners to minimise disruption. There person been immoderate cancellations owed to European upwind and the sound connected interaction of yesterday's runway closure. Passengers should interaction their airlines straight for the latest formation information.'

An easyJet spokesperson said:  'Like each airlines operating crossed European airspace easyJet's flying programme has experienced immoderate disruption yesterday, June 28, owed to upwind and ATC delays.

'Due to the runway closure astatine Gatwick Airport immoderate flights were affected with six inbound flights required to divert to different London airports. While the runway was past reopened, travel restrictions were enactment successful spot which unluckily resulted successful immoderate cancellations to the programme to and from Gatwick yesterday afternoon.

'We did everything imaginable to minimise the interaction for our customers whose flights were affected, providing edifice accommodation and meals arsenic good arsenic a refund oregon a transportation to an alternate formation and advised customers they volition beryllium reimbursed for expenses wherever they made their ain arrangements.

'The information and wellbeing of our customers is our highest precedence and portion this was extracurricular of our control, we are atrocious for the inconvenience caused.'

A British Airways spokesperson said: 'The information of our customers and unit is ever our priority, and we've apologised for the inconvenience caused pursuing an aborted take-off astatine Gatwick Airport.'

They antecedently said: 'Our pilots took the precautionary determination to cancel take-off owed to a method issue.

'Safety is ever our apical precedence and we apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused.'

MailOnline has contacted Easyjet for comment. 

It marks yet different hiccup this week for families trying to get distant for the summer.

Families flying from Birmingham Airport faced agelong queues for information with 1 rider describing it arsenic a 'health and information disaster'. 

Travellers utilizing the airdrome person faced waits of up to respective hours to get done the terminal successful caller weeks pursuing the opening of a £60million information hall. 

The caller country volition yet let passengers to permission liquids up to 2 litres and ample electrical items successful compartment luggage portion they spell done security, but caller authorities restrictions mean passengers are inactive lone constricted to 100ml bottles.

One video filmed earlier this week showed a agelong queue of cars waiting to get into the drop-off country today.  Witness Olly Carruthers said it was 'chaos' with the portion 'completely breached and backing up'.

Another traveller said helium had waited for much than an hr by 5.30am this greeting and had inactive not reached the lifts to walk information - with 1,000 radical successful the queue.

The airdrome - which besides denied the fig of 1,000 radical successful the queue - told however unit removed 0.8 tonnes of liquids, pastes and gels successful containers which were implicit the 100ml manus luggage bounds going done information betwixt 3.30am and 7am.