LONDON – Britain’s second-biggest airport, Gatwick, implemented a temporary limit on daily flights on Monday because of a shortage of staff in air traffic control caused by illnesses, including Covid-19.

The airport imposed an immediate cap of 800 flights taking off or landing a day until Sunday, and said 164 flights will be cancelled because of the disruption.

London Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate apologised for the disruption and added that it was “a difficult decision to take”.

“The action we have taken today means our airlines can fly reliable flight programmes, which gives passengers more certainty that they will not face last minute cancellations,” he said in a statement.

In a separate statement, air traffic control provider Nats said around a third of staff in air traffic control were unavailable for “a variety of medical reasons including Covid-19”, leaving it unable to manage the number of flights that were originally planned. REUTERS