Gatwick Airport has issued a fresh statement confirming that water supplies have been fully restored following a major failure that caused chaos for passengers during one of the busiest weekends of the summer holiday season.
Water supply fully returned
Posting on X on Monday morning (July 27), the airport said: "Following an issue yesterday (Sunday 26 July) at the Bough Beech Water Treatment Works which impacted the local area, we are pleased to report that the water supply has fully returned to the airport. All toilet facilities are open - as well as food and beverage outlets – and the airport is operating as normal."
The outage occurred on Sunday, July 26, after problems at the Bough Beech Water Treatment Works disrupted water supplies across the site. Restaurants, cafés and toilet facilities in both the North and South terminals were affected, and staff handed out complimentary bottled water to travellers.
Passenger experiences
Among those affected was Roger Wood from Tunbridge Wells, Kent, who arrived at Gatwick's South Terminal around 11am ahead of a flight to New York. He told the PA news agency: "There was no communication. We arrived at 11ish and it had only started recently. We met friends at the bar but they couldn't serve us as they were unable to wash their hands. I've never seen Wetherspoons empty. No idea when it'll be resolved, the toilets also lacked water to wash hands."
Shortly before 10pm on Sunday, airport bosses issued an update confirming water supplies had been restored to most of the airport campus and that they expected operations to return to normal for Monday's first departures.
Airport statement and operations
In a statement, Gatwick said: "Following an issue at the Bough Beech Water Treatment Works which impacted the local area today, we are pleased to report that the water supply has now returned to the vast majority of the London Gatwick campus. Most toilet facilities are now open and we expect all toilets - as well as food and beverage outlets - to be open for tomorrow's first flights. Since becoming aware of the issue, we have been working closely with SES Water and our airport partners to help minimise the impact, and ensure all today's flights departed as scheduled. Additional staff remain on hand across both terminals to support passengers and maintain operations as we return to normal operations. We recognise the inconvenience caused by today's water shortage and thank passengers for their patience and understanding. We'd also like to thank airport staff and our partners, who have gone above and beyond to support passengers and keep disruption to a minimum."
Despite the disruption to facilities, Gatwick confirmed all scheduled flights departed on Sunday. The first departures on Monday operated as scheduled after water supplies were restored overnight. The North Terminal's first flight was easyJet service U28181 to Athens, while the South Terminal's first departure was Wizz Air flight W95761 to Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. Both services operated following Sunday's disruption.
