Gatwick has told airlines it is short of jet fuel for the next two days, with long-haul services the most exposed and business travellers facing a real prospect of delays at the height of the summer season.
A memo circulated to flight crews by the airport instructed carriers to load as much fuel as possible before flying in. “For attention of all crews: Gatwick has a shortage of fuel for the next two days,” the document states. “Please uplift max possible fuel at outstations.” A separate notice warned of a “potential disruption to the Gatwick fuel supply”.
Airport engineers are understood to be working on a technical fault at one of Gatwick’s fuel farms. The shortage is not connected to the wider jet fuel supply squeeze caused by the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz arising from the Iran war.
Why long-haul is hardest hit
All carriers operating from the UK’s second-largest airport are expected to feel the effects, but long-haul is the pressure point. Aircraft returning from distant destinations cannot simply fill their tanks and carry the surplus home.
An airline source told The Sun: “Pilots will try and take on as much fuel as they can from their foreign destinations to bring back to the UK but they will be limited by factors such as the maximum take off weight and the maximum landing weight back at Gatwick.”
The same source said the warning reached airlines while several UK-bound long-haul services were already airborne, leaving those crews unable to carry extra fuel to help resupply other departures. There is a “good chance of disruption”, they added, particularly from Monday.
For companies with staff booked on transatlantic or Middle East routings this week, that points to a familiar set of headaches: knock-on delays as aircraft wait for fuel, potential swaps onto later services, and meetings that need rescheduling at short notice. Gatwick already carries a poor record on punctuality, having been named the UK’s worst airport for delays for a second consecutive year, so even modest disruption tends to compound quickly across the day.
A Gatwick spokesperson said: “Following a technical issue impacting fuel supply to the airport, airlines have been advised to monitor fuel availability.
“We are working closely with external suppliers to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and minimise any potential disruption. All airlines are operating as normal.”
That last point matters. No flights have been cancelled as a direct result of the fuel issue at the time of writing, and the airport’s position is that schedules are running to plan while suppliers work on a fix.
Where travellers stand on costs
Business travellers caught out should be clear on what airlines owe them. Under UK rules, carriers must provide food, drink and, where an overnight wait is involved, accommodation once a delay passes the relevant threshold, regardless of what caused the problem. Cash compensation is a separate question and depends on whether the disruption is judged to fall within “extraordinary circumstances”, a test set out in the CAA’s guidance on delays. A fuel supply fault at the airport, rather than a fault with the aircraft, is likely to be contested territory.
Practical steps for travellers this week: check flight status before leaving for the airport, keep receipts for any expenses incurred during a delay, and build slack into onward connections. Anyone unfamiliar with the site should note the split between North and South terminals and the free shuttle between them, covered in our Gatwick airport guide.
It is the second infrastructure problem to hit the airport in a matter of days. Last week a failure at a treatment works serving Gatwick left passengers without water and power for several hours. Toilets could not be flushed, hand washing and bottle refills were impossible, and bars, restaurants and coffee kiosks shut as taps ran dry. With cooking halted, only pre-made items such as sandwiches remained on sale.
