Staff sickness has led 26 EasyJet flights to and from Gatwick to be cancelled at the last minute, the airport has said.

Apologising for the latest inconvenience to passengers, the London hub blamed the disruption on late-notice absence in its air traffic control tower.

The scratching of the flights coincided with Gatwick posting its half-year results in which it had declared a return to “business as usual”.

Tens of thousands of holidaymakers jetting abroad this summer have been affected by cancellations and delays at UK airports in the face of staff shortages as the industry has struggled to cope with the surge in demand following the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Gatwick spokesperson said: “At 07:00, 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 cancelled as a result.

“Gatwick would like to apologise for any inconvenience this will cause to our passengers.”

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It came as the airport said it would not need to extend existing restrictions on passenger numbers beyond the end of August after it ramped up security staffing to reduce delays.

Gatwick also said it had provided personnel to support other airport operators, including airline baggage handlers, as part of the push to improve performance.

The airport had introduced capacity limits in June after workforce shortages had caused overcrowding, huge queues and
flight disruptions.

The ending of the cap contrasts with its larger London rival, Heathrow, which announced last week that it would continue to curb capacity until the end of October to tackle travel problems.

This has triggered further widespread cancellations and will also hit school half-term getaways.

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