Why is EasyJet cancelling flights and can you claim your money back?

AS many as 180,000 passengers are thought to have been affected by EasyJet’s summer flight cancellations.

On July 10, 2023, it was confirmed that the airline had been forced to cancel thousands of flights, affecting travel to and from Gatwick Airport across July, August and September 2023.

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Why is EasyJet cancelling flights?

EasyJet has been forced to cancel 1,700 flights as a preemptive measure.

The airline is hoping the move will prevent last-minute daily cancellations.

The flights have been scrapped due to a number of “challenging conditions”.

These include limited airspace following the war in Ukraine as well as strikes across the travel sector.

What has EasyJet said?

An EasyJet spokesperson told The Sun that they are currently operating around 1,800 flights a day, but factors such as the war in Ukraine and air traffic control strikes had forced them to cancel the flight this summer.

They said: “As Eurocontrol has stated, the whole industry is seeing challenging conditions this summer with more constrained air space due to the war in Ukraine resulting in unprecedented ATC delays, as well as further potential ATC strike action.

“We have therefore made some pre-emptive adjustments to our programme consolidating a small number of flights at Gatwick, where we have multiple daily frequencies, in order to help mitigate these external challenges on the day of travel for our customers and we continue to operate around over 90,000 flights over this period.”

Can you claim your money back for cancelled flights?

While a large number of EasyJet flights have been cancelled, around 95 per cent of passengers have been put on to alternative flights.

However, that does still leave around 9,000 passengers without a replacement flight.

An EasyJet spokesperson told The Sun that those impacted will be able to claim their money back.

They said: “Customers whose flights are affected are being informed, with 95 per cent of customers being rebooked onto an alternative flight and all customers provided with the option to rebook or receive a refund.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may have caused.”

Passengers who have their flights cancelled less than two weeks in advance and aren’t booked on a similar flight can get up to £220 in flight compensation.

Compensation can be claimed for up to £350 for flights above 1,500km.

Meanwhile, EasyJet travellers who choose to accept a rebooking to a different date can claim any additional accommodation and meal costs from the airline.