Dawn O’Porter is one of hundreds of thousands of travellers who have been stranded due to a technical problem with the UK’s air traffic control system.
On Bank Holiday Monday, computers fell down, resulting in the cancellation of almost 500 flights.
Despite the fact that the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) stated on Monday afternoon that it had ‘found and repaired’ the technical issue, approximately one million people were scheduled to travel in and out of the UK yesterday.
Dawn, 44, came to Instagram on Monday afternoon to vent about her troubles in Spain and seek advise.
‘Anyone with any knowledge know if there is any chance of landing at Gatwick today? Should I go through security or not? THAT IS THE QUESTION,’ she asked.
‘On my own with the kids so deffo don’t want to be stuck there for the night. Obvs no one here knows anything,’ the presenter and author added.
‘Sorry for everyone travelling today. Such bull***t.’
Dawn is married to Bridesmaids and The IT Crowd star Chris O’Dowd, 43, with whom she shares two sons – Art, eight, and six-year-old Valentine.
Four hours later, she updated her followers in the comments, writing: ‘Looks like I’ll be in Mallorca for a while. What a s**t show. Thanks everyone. I hope you all get home OK.’
In an extremely relatable note, she shared: ‘I’m heading back to the island to find wine.’
Followers sharing their situations in the comments weren’t faring well either, with one sharing: ‘We’ve been sat on the plane on the runway at Palma airport for 3 hours 😩’
View this post on Instagram
Another fan was detained on the tarmac in Cofu, Greece, six hours before their flight’s revised departure time and after the present crew had to deboard.
‘Don’t go through security!! We wish we hadn’t. And really, really, really wish they hadn’t boarded us,’ she added.
Her second Instagram post was a little more dejected, as she just put out for a snapshot she published on her grid: ‘I live in Mallorca now.’
‘Thanks @easyjet for cancelling our flight and offering LITERALLY no way to get home for at least a week. Can’t wait to recommend you to all my friends on Instagram,’ she posted in the comments.
Delayed at Malaga airport for possibly ‘many hours’, and they’ve ran out of beer at the terminal! 😫😫 #airtrafficcontrol pic.twitter.com/jRHLQdbMTI
— Jordan North (@jordannorth1) August 28, 2023
Meanwhile, BBC Radio 1 DJ Jordan North has been stuck at Malaga airport, where he shared the heartbreaking news that they’d ‘run out of beer at the terminal,’ and Love Island star Montana Brown resorted to drinking her own breast milk because she was so thirsty while stuck in a UK airport trying to leave for a summer vacation.
The ensuing disruption has already disrupted over 1,200 flights and is anticipated to linger throughout the weekend.
This is owing to the severity of the cancellations yesterday, which had a knock-on impact into Tuesday, combined with the already crowded flights this week as the summer vacations come to an end.
