Easyjet flight cancellations: prepare for a summer of travel disruption 

This week Easyjet confirmed the cancellation of almost 2000 flights in July, August and September, throwing hundreds of thousands of their customer’s travel plans into disarray. 

The specific flights affected are those arriving and departing from Gatwick airport. Easyjet blamed the mass cancellations on issues with European airspace, particularly the closure of Ukrainian airspace, and ongoing industrial action by air traffic controllers. 

They may have made these cancellations preemptively to avoid bigger disruption later on – consolidating the number of flights to prevent a backlog of delays and last-minute cancellations. But this announcement, which coincides with the beginning of the school holidays, is distressing for those whose holiday plans are suddenly needing to be rethought. 

Easyjet said that the cancellations are equivalent to only one day’s worth of flights. They also stated that 95% of passengers whose flights have been canceled have already been rebooked onto alternative flights. However, these attempts to minimise the impact of these cancellations won’t be reassuring for those who have been affected. 

Prepare for further disruptions… 

As well as being rebooked onto new flights, all passengers who have been affected by these cancellations have been offered the option to receive a full refund. This includes cases where only one leg of a return journey is canceled. 

However, it seems likely that this is just the first wave of air travel disruption of the summer. 

Last summer, 2022, more than a third of UK flights were delayed. And this summer may end up being even worse – with more flights booked for July 2023 than any month since before the Covid-19 pandemic. 

As well as industrial action across Europe, more congested skies, the increasing frequency of summer storms, and the conflict in Ukraine may also add to widespread disruption. 

If you are flying from a UK airport, arriving at a UK airport on an EU or UK airline, or arriving at an EU airport on a UK airline, you have the right to make a claim if your journey is disrupted or delayed. 

Our tool makes it quick, easy and free to raise a claim and to seek an independent review if it is rejected. So check out our rights guides to flight delays and cancellations to see what your rights are and prepare for any disruption to your summer holidays.

If you have any thoughts on this topic, or any other consumer issues you would like us to cover, feel free to get in touch with us at support@resolver.co.uk.