TENS of thousands of easyJet passengers were told late on Friday that their half-term Saturday flights had been cancelled due to “significant disruption” from Storm Dennis.
At least 50,000 passengers have been affected by the cancellations after the budget airline grounded 234 flights to and from the UK on Saturday.
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Families looking to travel for winter sun or ski trips for the half-term may see their plans grounded to a halt as dozens of easyJet flights to key ski airports, including Geneva, Grenoble, Salzburg and Turin have been cancelled.
Storm Dennis is sweeping into the UK today, bringing 70mph gales heavy rain and melting snow to the country.
EasyJet said it was doing “everything possible” to minimise the disruption for its customers and to arrange alternative travel.
“Due to forecasted adverse weather conditions caused by Storm Dennis, easyJet, like other airlines, is currently seeing disruption to its flight programme for Saturday, February 15,” said a spokesperson from the airline.
“Whilst this is outside of our control, we would like to apologise to passengers for any inconvenience experienced as a result of the weather.
“The safety and welfare of our passengers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority.”
The majority of the cancellations are at the airline’s main base, Gatwick.
Luton has also been affected with 16 ski flights to Geneva, Grenoble and Lyon, making up one third of the 48 cancellations.
Travellers hoping to see some sun in popular destinations such as Barcelona, Faro in Portugal, Canaries and Madeira have had their flights cancelled.
EasyJet recommends passengers check the status of their flight and gate information on the airline’s Flight Tracker website.
“Customers on cancelled flights have been given the option of transferring their flight free of charge or receiving a refund,” said the easyJet spokesperson.
“We will also provide hotel rooms and meals for customers who require them.”
‘ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE’
Niall Douglas, the managing director of travel agency, Full Circle Travel, said many of his clients were told late on Friday that their flights were cancelled – just after easyJet’s call centre closed.
He told the Sun Online: “Usually in this situation we’ve been able to log into MyBooking and change flights but that’s not working at the moment.
“A number of customers have been able to book alternative arrangements with Eurostar, but that’s now full.
“The weather doesn’t look as bad as it was last weekend, I don’t know why they’ve done this so early. It’s an absolute nightmare.
“I’ve got clients ringing me every five minutes asking for an update and I have to tell them the same thing.”
British Airways (BA) had also pre-emptively grounded 40 departures to and from Heathrow on Saturday afternoon in an attempt to protect the rest of the schedule.
BA’s partner, Iberia has grounded a round trip from Madrid to Heathrow and Lufthansa has cancelled Saturday evening flights from Heathrow to Boston.
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