Air traffic control: Sheffield woman stranded in Denmark describes 'stress and chaos' of flight cancellation

A Sheffield woman has spoken of the “stress and chaos” of being stranded in Denmark without a flight or hotel due to the UK’s air traffic control crisis.

Molly Williams, aged 26, and boyfriend Tom were offered a flight back to Manchester - arriving on Thursday and after a stopover in Switzerland - when the majority of flights in and out of UK airports were cancelled on bank holiday Monday.

They eventually bagged seats for Wednesday morning - and then faced a second race for rapidly disappearing hotel rooms in Copenhagen.

Sheffield journalist Molly said their carefully planned budget went “out of the window” as they racked up spending on a host of unplanned items from accommodation and food in the expensive capital city, to extra days of car parking in Manchester.

Uncertainty was adding to the stress of the situation, she added.

“Until we get to the airport we don’t know if there will be more problems. We have heard of staff shortages and flights being overbooked. In the chaos of trying to get a new flight we received two confirmations and don’t know if we’ve been charged for them. There was not chance of getting through to EasyJet.”

In a message, the airline said it would pay for flights, and accommodation at a “reasonable price,” without giving an upper limit, she added.

“We are trying to stay positive, the situation is out of our control.”

Holidaymakers heading to and from the UK were expected to face disruption for days, Transport Secretary Mark Harper warned.

National Air Traffic Services confirmed the fault just after midday on Monday. Three hours later it announced it had fixed the problem but warned it would "take some time for flights to return to normal.”