Gatwick Airport IT Fail Sees Whiteboards Replace Information Screens

Customers complained of "chaos" while bosses blamed a technical hitch.
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Travellers flying from Gatwick Airport complained of “chaos” on Monday morning, when an IT issue caused the departure lounge’s flight information boards to fail.

Staff were forced to use whiteboards to display vital travel information and updates, wiping off the writing and changing it when alterations were announced:

Dear @Gatwick_Airport you should be tweeting this every 5 minutes! pic.twitter.com/e6UZyi5stc

— Edmund von der Burg (@evdb) August 20, 2018

High tech screens at @Gatwick_Airport Off to Salzburg @SbgFestival with the @londonsymphony pic.twitter.com/qfmttcFwdz

— German Clavijo (@GermanClavijoUK) August 20, 2018

Large crowds soon began forming as passengers tried to see the updates, while a “handful” of people missed their flights.

@getsurreylive chaos at #GatwickAirport with staff using whiteboards and megaphones to display flight info after IT problem pic.twitter.com/wkLEkIn0aQ

— Nigel Lane (@mrnaughtynige) August 20, 2018

The screens are not working at @Gatwick_Airport and ... pic.twitter.com/FBWEX3nqQ4

— Tahir Liaqat (@imran033) August 20, 2018

@Gatwick_Airport: the systems are down - get the whiteboard out!

Generation Z: what are whiteboards?#gatwick #oldschool #backinschool #onlyoneintheback pic.twitter.com/WOhYr0q9Jd

— Tamara Salem (@TamaraSalem) August 20, 2018

Appalling @Gatwick_Airport with broken monitors and a tiny white-board for announcing gates. Thank goodness I have eagle-vision and can read messy writing from a distance. Why not pre-assign gates like Canadian airports? #laughable #typicalbritain #frustratedpassengers pic.twitter.com/uSKDWN8ooX

— Elizabeth Humphries (@lizmezzo) August 20, 2018

In a statement issued on Twitter, a spokesperson for Gatwick Airport said: “Due to an ongoing issue with Vodafone – a provider of IT services for Gatwick – flight information is not being displayed correctly on the airport’s digital screens and is currently displayed manually in the terminals.

“Gatwick would like to apologise to any passengers affected and expects Vodafone to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”

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