LONDON (Reuters) – Gatwick, Britain’s second-largest airport, on Monday implemented a temporary limit on daily flights due to staff shortages in air traffic control caused by illnesses, including the coronavirus.
The airport imposed an immediate limit of 800 flights taking off or landing per day through Sunday and said 164 flights will be canceled due to the disruption.
London Gatwick boss Stewart Wingate apologized for the disruption and said it was “a difficult decision to make”.
“The action we have taken today means our airlines can offer reliable flight schedules, giving passengers more certainty that they will not face last-minute cancellations,” Wingate said in a statement.
In a separate statement, air traffic control provider NATS said around a third of air traffic control staff were unavailable for “a variety of medical reasons, including COVID”, preventing it from managing the number of flights that were originally planned.
Report by Muvija M. Edited by Andrew MacAskill
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