Passengers tell of ‘freezing’ conditions and exhaustion amid Gatwick chaos

Passengers stranded by the chaos at Gatwick Airport have told of families running out of food and trying to sleep in “freezing” terminals and crowded planes as they try to travel home for Christmas.

Andri Kyprianou, from Cyprus, said she saw a pregnant woman sleeping on the floor and passengers with infants spending the night in the “freezing” South Terminal.

She said she got to the airport at 12.30am for a 3am flight to Cyprus via Kiev, only to find it had been cancelled and the next connection in Kiev is on Sunday.

She said: “I haven’t slept since yesterday morning, we are very tired. It’s freezing, we are cold, having to wear all of these coats for extra blankets.

“There were pregnant women, one of them was sleeping on the floor. There were people with small babies in here overnight, we saw disabled people on chairs.

“There were young children sleeping on the floor.”

She said she will have to spend a night in Kiev, but she had been told by Ukraine International Airlines that there may be a chance of an alternative connection through Tel Aviv.

“Hopefully they will arrange a hotel for us so we don’t have another night in an airport,” she added.

Chris Lister, from Somerset, who owns an online business, was travelling back from Kiev with his wife Freya.

He was due to land at Gatwick at 9.45pm on Wednesday but ended up trapped on the plane on the tarmac at Birmingham Airport until 6am.

“There were quite a few babies and kids on board, I think they were struggling more than we were and one woman had run out milk,” he said.

After starting his journey in Bangkok on Tuesday he was finally let off the plane at 6am, he said.

A Gatwick spokesman said 110,000 passengers were due to either take off or land at the airport on 760 flights on Thursday.

He was unable to say how many had already been affected but the first wave of flights is normally the busiest time of the day.

Around 10,000 passengers were affected on Wednesday night after the runway was closed at 9.03pm.

Passengers are advised not to travel to the airport if their flight is cancelled.

Joseph Ouechen, a photographer from Morocco, was due to fly into Gatwick on Wednesday night but had his flight diverted to Paris.

After arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport at midnight, passengers with visas for the Schengen area were taken to a hotel but those without – “about 20%” – were left in the airport to fend for themselves, he said.

“There were families with babies who couldn’t get to their suitcases for their milk and stuff,” he said.

“We were asking just for a favour if (airport staff) could help but they said they couldn’t do anything.”

Firefighters eventually crossed the border through passport control with blankets and water at 3.30am, he said.

“To be honest, I’m so tired and when the guys from the fire (service) came with the bottles and blankets I was feeling like a war, like (I was) a refugee, but I’m just flying to the UK.

“It’s surreal. I was flying to the UK and now there are firemen bringing me water and blankets.”

Mamosta Abdulla said he was on an Iraq-bound flight on Wednesday evening before getting stuck on the tarmac for four hours.

He will miss his father’s memorial service, he said.

“We got here at 6pm and should have flown at 9.10pm, but we were stuck four hours on the plane with a crying baby, the child was disabled and everyone was sweating because it was so hot in there,” he said.

Passengers were given a £12 voucher for food, he added, but were left to sleep “in a freezing place on uncomfortable chairs”.

“We are in Iraq with bombs going off nearby and the plane still lands. But here some drones have shut down the airport.”