Water Supply Disruption Hits London Gatwick Airport, Services Affected

London Gatwick Airport experienced significant disruption on Sunday following a water supply outage that affected both its North and South terminals, causing inconvenience for passengers during the peak summer travel season.

Although flight operations continued without reported delays or cancellations, the disruption affected several essential airport services.

Passengers reported being unable to flush toilets, wash their hands, refill drinking water bottles, or purchase hot beverages as some restaurants and food outlets temporarily suspended operations due to the lack of running water.

In a statement posted on its official X account, Gatwick Airport confirmed that a water supply issue in the Horley area was responsible for the disruption.

The airport said the incident had affected water supply across both terminals and that investigations were ongoing to determine the cause and restore normal service. It assured passengers that emergency measures had been activated to reduce the impact of the outage while repairs were underway.

As part of its contingency response, the airport said bottled water was being distributed to passengers and staff, while additional welfare measures were being implemented to ensure travellers remained as comfortable as possible during the disruption.

Regional water provider SES Water later explained that the problem resulted from a power outage at a nearby water treatment facility. According to the company, the power failure created a number of operational complications, leaving customers in the surrounding area, including Gatwick Airport, with either low water pressure or a temporary loss of water supply.

SES Water said its engineers were working to restore normal service as quickly as possible and confirmed that it was coordinating closely with airport authorities to resolve the situation.

The incident occurred during one of the busiest periods of the year for air travel, with thousands of holidaymakers passing through Britain’s second-busiest airport. Gatwick serves millions of passengers annually and is a major hub for several low-cost airlines, including EasyJet, making any disruption at the airport particularly significant during the summer holiday season.

Despite the challenges posed by the water outage, airport authorities maintained that flight schedules were not directly affected, while efforts continued to restore full water services and normal operations across both terminals.