Gatwick: runway closes after British Airways jet makes ‘priority’ return

'The incident is bound to raise questions about the wisdom of allowing aircraft which are not experiencing dire emergencies to a land back at their base'

Dozens of passengers at Gatwick Airport face delays and cancellations tonight after the main runway was closed for 37 minutes.

A British Airways flight from the Sussex airport to Heraklion in Greece which had taken off just after 4pm turned around over Frankfurt and returned to Gatwick two hours later.

The pilots of the Airbus A320 requested a priority landing, which was made at 6.04pm. The aircraft remained on the runway for around 20 minutes. After it was towed away, an inspection was required before landings and takeoffs could resume.

Although Gatwick has a standby runway, it was not brought into use.Operations resumed at 6.41pm. But because the airport is the busiest runway in the world, the closure triggered serious disruption.

At least 10 inbound flights diverted, to airports including Bournemouth, Luton and East Midlands.

Cancellations began shortly afterwards, with the Gatwick-Dublin Ryanair departure grounded because the plane was in Bournemouth. A spokesperson for Gatwick said: “Following the closure, ten departing flights have had to be cancelled. Additional airport staff have been brought in to help with the welfare of these passengers, including helping them to book hotels where required and making arrangements to rebook them onto the next available flight.”

It was already a difficult day for Gatwick, with dozens of substantial delays.

Monday’s mayhem happened after a weekend of disruption, which had begun with a similar problem: a Virgin Atlantic jet made an emergency landing with a hydraulic issue on Friday.

Many passengers expressed their frustration on social media. Neill Jacobs tweeted: “Shocked and appalled @easyJet. Flight cancelled after hours of waiting, stranded with hundreds of other disgruntled passengers at Gatwick, no information, no staff and 2 kids under 3. Not impressed.”

Passengers whose flights are heavily delayed or cancelled because of the runway closure will not qualify for cash compensation.

But their airlines are responsible for providing meals and, if necessary, accommodation until they can be flown to their destination.

The incident is the latest in a long series of runway blockages. It is bound to raise questions about the wisdom of allowing aircraft which are not experiencing dire emergencies to a land back at their base, which may be convenient for the airline but causes large scale disruption for other flights.

A BA spokesperson said: “The flight landed safely after our flight crew decided to return to Gatwick as a precaution following a technical fault. We have apologised to our customers and are providing them with hotel accommodation. The safety of our customers and crew must always be our highest priority and we are sorry for the inconvenience caused.”