Hundreds of furious passengers are stranded at Gatwick airport after airline cancels flights

Up to 800 passengers have been stranded at Gatwick Airport for five days after an airline cancelled its flights. Many of the travellers, who were due to travel to Lagos with Nigerian airline Med-View, have been sleeping on the floor since Friday, and may not get a flight until the new year. Med-View blamed technical problems which are said to have put one of its three planes out of action. The airline also claimed it arranged for three planes to evacuate at least 700 people on Wednesday but one of these had to be cancelled after passengers became unruly. But furious customers, some of whom paid more than £1,000 for a ticket, accused the company of 'abandoning' them.

One woman became dizzy and collapsed at 10.20am on Wednesday and was treated at the scene by South East Coast Ambulance Service. A letter to passengers from the Civil Aviation Authority on December 27 offered passengers a hotel room for the night. Med-View leases its three planes. Its biggest, a Boeing 777, is being repaired after suffering a technical glitch on December 22 while the other jets, a 737 and a 767, are still in service.
Gatwick Airport said: 'Due to a lack of available aircraft, a significant number of Med-view passengers have not flown out as expected and are currently still at the airport. Gatwick would like to apologise on the airline's behalf.
'Airport staff are also assisting these passengers where possible and will continue to work with the airline and other authorities to ensure that Medview honours its commitments to their passengers.'

Source: DailyMail