Passengers aboard an EasyJet flight from Rome to Gatwick spent more than two hours stuck on the tarmac at Stansted Airport in the middle of the night after their plane was unable to refuel, leaving them to arrange onward travel with limited public transport options.
The diversion was one of several forced away from Gatwick when a British Airways plane temporarily blocked its runway. After the already-delayed flight landed at Stansted, EasyJet said a lack of ground handling staff meant the aircraft could not refuel. Passengers were only allowed to disembark after 03:00.
“EasyJet passengers stranded on tarmac for hours after diverted flight couldn't refuel at Stansted due to staff shortage.”
Sammy, a passenger on the flight, told the BBC she did not get home until around 06:00 because of further delays retrieving her luggage. “I’m sitting there waiting in baggage claim and it’s on the screen and it says… ‘awaiting baggage’, something like that, and it just disappears, like it’s gone from the screen,” she said. “But maybe 50 minutes to an hour goes past and a couple of people come out and basically get everyone’s attention – at about 04:30 at this point – and go: ‘Sorry, but there’s no one working that can get your bags’.” Eventually staff turned up, but by the time she got home she was “so, so tired”.
EasyJet apologised “for the inconvenience caused by the diversion and delay in disembarking”. The airline added: “While we worked to make onward arrangements for customers, as no ground handling staff were available for the unscheduled arrival, the aircraft was unable to refuel and so customers disembarked in Stansted and were advised they would be reimbursed for their onward travel.” Passengers were informed the airline was struggling to get any fuel to the plane. EasyJet has no arrangement with Swissport, which had provided fuel to another BA plane.
An aviation source told the BBC that fuel on the EasyJet plane may have been so low after circling over Gatwick that it needed to land urgently and divert to Stansted instead of its bases in Southend and Luton. Since EasyJet has no base at Stansted and no ground handling support, it became difficult to provide facilities like deboarding passengers or refuelling. The source added it was unclear why it took so long for EasyJet to remedy the situation.
Some passengers opted to have their luggage delivered later rather than wait. Others made their own onward travel arrangements and planned to claim costs back. The ordeal, which began with a delayed flight and ended with a dawn arrival home, left many questioning how a major airline could leave customers stranded without staff or fuel for hours.