Ryanair has demanded the chief executive of air traffic control provider Nats “step down” over Covid-related staff shortages that have caused widespread disruption.

“It is the most basic requirement to hire and train adequate staff numbers including standby coverage,” a statement from Ryanair read, adding that it pays Nats almost €100m (£87m) annually for air-traffic control services.

“Nats has been a shambles for years, causing unnecessary disruptions at UK airports including Bristol, Edinburgh and Manchester, and now Gatwick airport for the past four weeks, including the complete system meltdown on Monday 28 August, which brought UK aviation to its knees – a mess that has still not been explained.

“It is clear that Nats CEO, Martin Rolfe, has taken no action to resolve these air-traffic control staff shortages and should now do the right thing and step down as Nats CEO so that someone competent can do the job. We call on the CAA to immediately intervene and protect passengers from this ongoing UK air-traffic control shambles.”

In a statement, Nats said: “We have worked very closely with Gatwick airport throughout. Given the levels of sickness we have experienced over the last few weeks we believe it is the responsible thing to do to limit the number of flights this week in order to reduce the risk of daily disruption to passengers using the airport.

“We have trained as many air traffic controllers as possible this year in the Gatwick tower and have safely managed over 180,000 flights so far. However, with 30 per cent of tower staff unavailable for a variety of medical reasons including Covid, we cannot manage the number of flights that were originally planned for this week.”

30 per cent of NATS tower staff at Gatwick are currently unavailable for a “variety of medical reasons” including Covid, the airport has said.

On Monday, Gatwick limited flights to 800 per day until Sunday 1 October in an effort to prevent last-minute cancellations and delays “whilst NATS work through challenges driven by sickness and staffing constraints.”

Before the cap was put in place, the movements anticipated for the week were as follows:

Tuesday - 800

Wednesday - 829

Thursday - 840

Friday - 865

Saturday - 800

Sunday - 830.

“This has been a difficult decision but the action we have taken means our airlines can fly reliable flight programmes, which gives passengers more certainty that they will not face last-minute cancellations”, Stewart Wingate, CEO of London Gatwick, said.

“We are working closely with NATS to build resilience in the control tower, and this decision means we can prevent as much disruptions as possible.

“London Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers who have been impacted by these restrictions.”

Nats has maintained that the organisation has worked “very closely” with Gatwick Airport throughout the disruption to flights caused by staff sickness.

“We have worked very closely with Gatwick airport throughout”, a spokesperson for Nats said.

“Given the levels of sickness we have experienced over the last few weeks we believe it is the responsible thing to do to limit the number of flights this week in order to reduce the risk of daily disruption to passengers using the airport.

“We have trained as many air traffic controllers as possible this year in the Gatwick tower and have safely managed over 180,000 flights so far.

“However, with 30% of tower staff unavailable for a variety of medical reasons including Covid, we cannot manage the number of flights that were originally planned for this week.

Nats previously said it is “working in line” with a staffing plan agreed with Gatwick bosses when it took over the provision of ATC services at the airport in October 2022, which includes training further controllers.

Over two-thirds of Brits have experienced a delayed flight or cancellation over the last year, data shows.

The research, by travel industry group IBS Software, also shows more than half of those affected were never told why their flights were affected.

Last week, hundreds of holidaymakers were forced to queue for hours as e-gate passport control gates stopped working in airports across the country.

Families with children and elderly passengers faced lengthy wait times overnight, with reportedly limited staff on shift at Gatwick and Luton to assist with the situation.

Several customers took to social media to express their outrage, with one user writing that it was a “shambles”.

Holly Evans reports:

Daniel Wilkes, a consultant psychiatrist from Angus, was booked on the 7.15pm flight from Gatwick to Edinburgh last night. It was cancelled at 8.40pm.

He told The Independent: “I just can’t believe the lack of contingency planning from Nats for staff sickness and that this is happening again.

“Plus, airports and airlines have had quite a while to firm up their processes for cancellations, and yet always the poorly managed scrum ensues. Bizarrely, we were made to exit through border control. I didn’t even have my passport as it was a domestic flight.”

Simon Calder answers your questions on minimum pricing for flights, unheard-of airlines with no entertainment, and being stranded at the airport late at night.

Read more:

Staff sickness in the control tower meant the “flow rate” of flights using the world’s busiest runway was reduced.

Fifty flights to and from the Sussex airport were cancelled or diverted, while many other services were delayed by up to seven hours.

Simon Calder has more:

Nats (National Air Traffic Services) provides en-route air traffic control services to flights, controlling the air traffic across a number of UK airports.

It was first created in 1962 to be used by the UK’s military and civil servants, but was restructured in 1992 to become a limited company. From then onwards, it was a subsidiary of the Civil Aviation Authority, which ended the direct involvement of military officers.

The Transport Act (2000) later brought Nats into public-private ownership, with 51 per cent of the company transferred to the private sector.

Ryanair says it won’t cancel any flights despite a cap on arrivals and departures at Gatwick airport, and has demanded the chief executive of air traffic control provider Nats “step down” over staff shortages.

Europe’s biggest budget carrier has a relatively small presence at the Sussex airport, with no aircraft based there. The main operation is between Gatwick and Dublin.

In an angry statement, Ryanair said it pays Nats almost €100m (£87m) annually for air-traffic control services.

Simon Calder reports: