Young dancers could miss top international competition after easyJet flights are cancelled

Hundreds of young dancers due to compete in a prestigious competition in Spain are scrabbling to find flights after they were cancelled in the ongoing airports chaos.

Around 1,000 dancers aged four to 25 are due to represent England at the Dance World Cup in San Sebastian, but hundreds have had their easyJet flights cancelled, some even for a second or third time.

They're among the latest passengers caught up in the chaos at Gatwick airport, where dozens more flights were cancelled today.

The dancers have fundraised to pay for the trip, with flights, accommodation and costumes typically costing around £700 per dancer, but now might not make it to the competition, which starts on June 24.

Team manager Jo Arnett-Morrice, from Hove, east Sussex, said her easyJet flights from Gatwick to and from Bilbao had been cancelled, forcing her to pay around £600 for new flights with British Airways.

Some dancers in the 1,000-strong team are still looking for flights, while others have booked flights to France and plan to drive to Spain, she said.

"Some dancers had their flights cancelled, got a refund and booked another one - at great expense - and then that was cancelled too.

"Some parents can afford it if the prices go up, but others can't. If they can't come they will let their team down."

Jo has also been dealing with passport delays that have left some dancers uncertain if they will be able to travel, lobbying MPs to help speed the process up.

Dancer Louella Ashdown said: "I think about a month ago our first flight got cancelled, which made us have to book again, made us have to book another hotel.

"That flight was cancelled again causing us to rebook again, and then our third flight was cancelled, which is a huge shock. 

Team mate Olivia Flint added: "We now have to get a flight to France and have to pay an extra couple of hundred pounds to drive to Spain so it's a lot more extra money."

EasyJet said its customer team is in contact with the team to apologise for their experience and to help rearrange their plans, including finding alternative flights or providing them with a refund as soon as possible, and was processing refunds on average between 24 hours and four days.

It added: “We are very sorry that this group’s flights have been cancelled. While we provided options to rebook or receive a refund in advance to minimise impact on customers plans ahead of travelling, we fully understand the difficulty this will have caused and we are very sorry.

"We would like to assist them during this time in any way we can to get them to their competition and our customer team are in contact with the group to assist them with rebooking or a refund.”