EasyJet rescue flights

[ExXB]

Apparently U2 is operating some extra sections to pick up some passengers off cancelled flights.

I understand why flights to/from French airports were cancelled - the DGCA asked airlines to cancel 40% of their flights. But why cancellations for Spain and Morocco? French airspace could have been avoided for these destinations ex UK, although flight timings would have been longer.

Interesting that out of Geneva U2 only cancelled flights to France, not to the UK.

[Double Hydco]

But why cancellations for Spain and Morocco? French airspace could have been avoided for these destinations ex UK, although flight timings would have been longer.

The usual way to get to Spain/Morocco without flying through French airspace would be to use oceanic airspace (Tango routes). This requires HF radio which only the EZY A320's are equipped with, not the A319's.

At some points the slot delays were up to 360 minutes long, making the flying programme unsustainable I would have thought.

DH

[Octopussy2]

I was on a delayed flight from Birmingham to GVA on Wednesday - we did the usual route over France, but the (Easyjet) pilot commented that the answer to the "why not just avoid France" question was that the other routes were now at capacity, so it was no improvement on waiting for a route through French airspace.

The pilot and his crew were great in the circumstances - they emailed ahead so that an announcement was made at the airport that they had run out of sandwiches/hot food, so anyone who needed to could buy food before boarding. When we finally boarded he came out of the cockpit to tell us in person that there would be another hour's delay on the tarmac, gave us as much information as he could, then welcomed the children into the cockpit for a visit and a chat (which made all the difference to my two - turned a dull wait into a really cool experience). Top marks.

(this was on sector 3 of a very delayed 4-sector day and when I asked about hours he said they were already into discretion).

[TightSlot]

Don't know for sure if this is relevant, but problems can occur under these circumstances when aircraft and crews are in the 'wrong place' to operate or have duty hours issues as a a knock-on result from previous days of disruption. This may not be the sole cause but may be a contributory factor.