EasyJet apologises after August flight delayed by 'snow on runway'

EasyJet has apologised after telling passengers their flight had been delayed while snow was cleared from Jersey Airport's runway in the height of summer.

Passengers travelling on the delayed EZY5104 service from Jersey to Gatwick on Monday 15 August were told they couldn't claim compensation for the disruption as the airport runway had been closed because of snowfall.

It comes as the island was in its second period of 'absolute drought' this year, with residents being urged to conserve water following a prolonged spell with no measurable rainfall.

In its email to passengers, EasyJet said: "To further explain what happened on the day, Jersey had to close its runway for snow clearance, resulting in flights holding overhead for extended periods or having to divert to alternative airports.

"Long delays built up during the day. Some flights had to be cancelled, others experienced delays."

Bemused travellers have since taken to social media questioning the message, saying other flights in and out of Jersey Airport that day had not been disrupted.

While the weather was slightly cooler than the previous day, Jersey Met still recorded temperatures of 22.8 degrees Celsius.

EasyJet has told ITV News that flight EZY5104 was actually delayed because of 'poor weather conditions and fog', and the message to passengers blaming the delay on August snow was down to human error.

They explained: "We are sorry passengers received incorrect information regarding the precise weather conditions which caused the delay.

"Our operations control centre manually logs the reason for the delay in our system, and so this was as the result of human error."

The airline added the disrupted passengers still would not be able to claim compensation because the delay was down to poor weather and outside of EasyJet's control, but the company always reimburses passengers on disrupted flights when it is required to.