“While we worked to make onward arrangements for customers, as no ground handling staff were available for the unscheduled arrival, the aircraft was unable to refuel and so customers disembarked in Stansted and were advised they would be reimbursed for their onward travel,” EasyJet added.
Passengers stuck on the aircraft, which had been travelling from Rome, were informed EasyJet was struggling to get any fuel to the plane. The airline has no arrangement with Swissport which had provided some fuel to another BA plane.
Sammy, a passenger on the diverted EasyJet flight, told the BBC she didn’t get home until around 06:00 because there were further delays in getting her luggage due to the lack of staff at Stanstead.
Sammy said: “I’m sitting there waiting in baggage claim and it’s on the screen and it says… ‘awaiting baggage’, something like that, and it just disappears, like it’s gone from the screen.
“But maybe 50 minutes to an hour goes past and a couple of people come out and basically get everyone’s attention – at about 04:30 at this point – and go: ‘Sorry, but there’s no one working that can get your bags’,” Sammy said.
Eventually staff turned up to get her baggage, but she says she was “so, so tired” by the time she got home around 06:00.
Other people on the plane got off at Stansted and had to make their own onward travel arrangements and claim back costs later. Sammy said there was also the option to get their luggage delivered to them if they didn’t want to wait.
An aviation source told the BBC that fuel on the Easyjet plane may have been so low after circling over Gatwick that it needed to land urgently and divert to Stansted instead of its bases in Southend and Luton.
They added that since Easyjet has no base at Stansted and no ground handling support, it made it difficult to provide facilities like deboarding passengers or refuelling. The source added it is unclear why it took so long for easyJet to remedy the situation and get the passengers disembarked.
The diversion came after a BA plane temporarily blocked a runway at Gatwick Airport after reportedly experiencing a landing gear issue.
Emergency services met the plane as a precaution upon landing, following reports of a “technical fault” with the aircraft.
BA said the plane landed safely and passengers disembarked normally.
A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “Earlier this morning, the runway was closed for a short period due to a technical issue with an aircraft.
“As a result, a small number of flights were diverted, with the majority later returning to London Gatwick. As always, safety and security is our number one priority.”
There were a number of delays to arrivals and departures from Gatwick Airport on Wednesday, although it was not clear if these were connected to the earlier runway closure.
