Palma de Mallorca Airport. Credit: Markus Mainka, Shutterstock
Hundreds of British holidaymakers are left stranded at Palma de Mallorca Airport after easyJet cancelled several flights on Sunday, June 1, due to what the airline called “air traffic control restrictions” caused by poor weather in Northern Europe.
Fewer than 10 flights were cancelled, but over 120 were delayed, leaving passengers in limbo at the airport terminal after the UK’s half-term break.
Families stuck at Palma de Mallorca Airport due to easyJet cancellations and delays
Beth Rafferty, 31, from Hastings, East Sussex, was travelling back to Gatwick with her partner, Lewis Chapman, 26, and their children, aged eight and ten. Their 7pm easyJet flight was cancelled shortly before boarding.
“We’ve been sat watching loads of other flights from other airlines land and take off, so we’re not sure why,” Beth told The Sun, claiming most cancellations affected easyJet flights in their timeslot.
She added: “Lots of people have ended up flying to Belfast or Liverpool instead of London, we’ve been fortunate.”
With no suitable rebooking option from easyJet, Beth’s family had to fork out £300 (€355) for a hotel and later paid £1,500 (€1,777) for Jet2 flights to Bournemouth just to get the children back to school in time.
“We’ve been told by someone at the airport front desk we won’t be compensated for the new flights. But we might get the money back for the accommodation,” Beth explained. She also contacted the children’s school, which confirmed they wouldn’t face a fine.
easyJet blames weather for flight cancellations, not its own systems
An easyJet spokesperson said in a statement: “Unfortunately, due to the impact of widespread thunderstorms across Northern Europe yesterday, some flights were unable to operate as planned.
“We did all we could to minimise the impact of the weather disruption on our customers, providing options to rebook or a refund their flights as well as providing hotel accommodation and meals for those who required them.
“The safety and wellbeing of our customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and while this was outside of our control, we are sorry for the inconvenience caused.”
Mounting pressure over air traffic control delays
This disruption comes just days after Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, slammed Europe’s air traffic control (ATC) systems, warning of a chaotic summer ahead. He described the services as “shoddy” and claimed they were already causing record delays for 2025, as reported by The Express.
Ryanair is also suing UK air traffic control body NATS for £5 million (€5.87 million) over a 2023 incident where a remote-working engineer allegedly caused system failures, affecting 700,000 passengers.
With more storms expected across Europe and peak travel season looming, concerns are rising that these “extraordinary circumstances” may not be so rare this summer.
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