EasyJet to ban late boarding

easyJet has announced plans that will prevent latecomers from boarding flights, should they arrive at the gate later 30 minutes before departure.

The UK’s biggest budget airline has warned customers that if they arrive to board their flight 30 minutes before departure, they will be faced with an 80 pound ‘rescue fee’ or be forced to abandon their flight all together.

The low cost carrier is aiming at reducing unnecessary journeys for passengers who arrive with less than 30 minutes to spare. They claim that at big airports, such as Gatwick and Heathrow, it can take up to 20 minutes for passengers to walk to the gate and board their flights.

The policy change is being implemented based on a proven model used at Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport by British Airways.

This could potentially cause passengers to lose out on cheap flight tickets, due to excessive fees or cancellations when arriving late at the airport.

Security barriers at Gatwick will provide updates and automatically stop any travellers who have missed the deadline from passing through when they scan their boarding passes.

With an estimated 15 million customers using easyJet and travelling through Gatwick each year, a back lash from customers is to be expected. Especially from those passengers who travel short haul, many of which chose to fly because it is the quicker option.

A spokesperson for easyJet said: “Punctuality is important to our passengers and that is why we ask passengers to be at the gate no later than -30 minutes before the flight departs. This means that if passengers are still yet to clear security at -30 they will be unable to achieve this.”