Holidaymakers stuck on plane for hours in air chaos as airline ‘cannot hand out any water’

A passenger, who was travelling from Italy on a Ryanair flight was upset after claiming she would not be given a drink of water despite the lengthy delay.

Holidaymakers stuck on plane for hours in air chaos as airline ‘cannot hand out any water’

Holidaymakers stuck on plane for hours in air chaos as airline ‘cannot hand out any water’ (Image: AFP)

A disgruntled passenger has complained after being stuck on a runway for two hours with "nine hours to go" as her airline "cannot hand out any water" to travellers.

Social media user, Heena Randhawa, took to platform X, to state she was flying with budget airline, Ryanair, from Bologna in Italy to London.

A couple of hours after the initial tweet, the traveller said: "Okay, we've been given water, thanks @Ryanair."

Holidaymakers have faced travel chaos today as UK's air traffic control system was hit by a fault. August 28 is one of the busiest days for air travel in the UK with many families returning at the end of the school holidays.

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) experienced a "technical issue" and applied traffic flow restrictions to maintain safety.

Traveller chaos

The traveller was stuck on a Ryanair flight for two hours... (Image: Getty)

As engineers were working to fix the air traffic control system failure, the scale of travel chaos is becoming apparent.

According to a data analytics firm, it has been reported that 232 flights have been cancelled departing UK airports today, equivalent to around eight percent of all departures.

Inbound to the UK, 271 flights have been cancelled arriving into UK airports, or around nine percent of arrivals.

Travel chaos

The UK's traffic control system suffered a "technical Issue" which has impacted flights (Image: Getty Images / stock image)

Warning travellers about the delays, Ryanair issued the following statement: "Due to another air traffic control failure, Ryanair will be forced to delay/cancel a number of flights to and from the UK today, Monday, August 28."

"All affected passengers will be notified of their options to change flights (free of charge) to another Ryanair flight or receive a full refund. We sincerely apologise for this UK Air Traffic Control failure which is beyond Ryanair’s control and is affecting all airlines operating to/from the UK today."

The technical issue which limited UK air traffic has now been fixed by NATS, but schedules remain "significantly disrupted". It has been advised to only travel to the airport if your flight is "confirmed to be operating". Further details on the travel chaos and delays can be found here.

Express.co.uk has reached out to Ryanair for comment on the traveller's claims regarding refreshments onboard.  

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