Travelers passing through Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom faced a frustrating Sunday after a power failure at a nearby water treatment facility knocked out restrooms and forced the closure of dining establishments across both terminals.
The airport, located south of London, issued an apology on the social media platform X, acknowledging the difficulties passengers were experiencing.
SES Water confirmed the disruption stemmed from a power outage at its Bough Beech Water Treatment Works, which caused water pressure to drop and led to a temporary loss of service for some customers in Kent and Sussex counties. The utility said crews were working to restore normal service.
Airport officials stated that bottled water was being made available to travelers, but some passengers on the ground told a different story. Paul Lee, who was at the airport at the time, said he had seen no sign of water bottles being handed out and had received no information about the outage.
“For people who need to go to the toilet, this isn’t good,” Lee told the BBC. “I’m taking off soon, so that’s fine, but for passengers in a few hours, this will be bad.”
Former member of Parliament Michael Dugher took to social media to describe the scene, noting that with bars and restaurants shuttered, travelers were being forced to sit on the floor due to a lack of available seating. He called on the airport to open those closed venues to give passengers somewhere to wait.
