Spain holiday chaos as hundreds of tourists stranded after flights grounded

Hundreds of British holidaymakers are stuck in Palma de Airport - after a string of flight cancellations due to 'air traffic control restrictions'. Countless British families are unable to get home from their half term holidays on the popular island with and other airlines after restrictions were imposed due to poor weather in Europe, which were "outside [of the airline's] control". This comes days after CEO, Michael O'Leary complained of "shoddy ATC services" which he warned would cause record flight in summer 2025.

Hundreds of people have been said to be stuck at the airport due to poor weather conditions in northern Europe, according to British tourist, Beth Rafferty. The airport terminal was reportedly packed with hundreds of stranded passengers, many of whom were left in limbo due to the delays and last-minute cancellations.

The 31-year-old from Hastings, East Sussex was travelling with her partner, Lewis Chapman, 26, and were due to fly back to London Gatwick with their two children, aged eight and ten, on Sunday evening.

But shortly before boarding, they received an email informing them that their 7pm easyJet flight had been cancelled due to ATC restrictions, though it was later confirmed that this was due to bad weather in the north of Europe, reported.

She said that although fewer than 10 flights were actually cancelled, over 120 flights experienced delays affecting hundreds of people.

Beth and her family had to spend £300 on emergency hotel accommodation. Unable to secure a timely alternative flight with easyJet, they paid £1,500 for Jet2 tickets to fly into Bournemouth so that the children don't miss any more days of school.

An easyJet spokesperson commented: "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 these 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."