A major water supply failure at Gatwick Airport has left passengers without access to working toilets, running water, or key services as bars and restaurants were forced to close. Travellers reported long queues for the few available facilities and widespread inconvenience across terminals.
Passengers at the Sussex airport took to social media to describe the situation, saying they were unable to wash their hands, fill water bottles, or obtain hot drinks. Many complained about the lack of basic amenities, with some describing the conditions as chaotic and unhygienic. The disruption affected both the North and South terminals.
SES Water, the utility company serving the area, confirmed interruptions to the supply in parts of Kent and West Sussex. A spokesperson said the company was aware of the problem affecting Gatwick and surrounding regions, and engineers were working to restore normal service. The cause of the outage has not yet been disclosed.
The airport’s bars and restaurants were unable to serve drinks because the lack of running water made it impossible to prepare food or beverages safely. Some retail outlets also stopped trading. Gatwick Airport authorities issued an apology to passengers and advised them to bring their own water if possible. Staff distributed bottled water where available, but supplies were limited given the scale of the disruption.
The outage comes at a particularly busy period for Gatwick, which handles tens of thousands of passengers daily during the summer holidays. The failure raised immediate concerns about infrastructure resilience at major transport hubs. Travel experts noted that while airports often have backup systems for electricity and IT, water supply failures can be especially difficult to mitigate because large volumes are needed for sanitation and catering.
Local residents in Kent and Sussex also reported low water pressure or no water at all, adding to the wider impact of the supply interruption. It remains unclear how long the outage will last or when full service will be restored. Gatwick advised passengers to check with their airline for flight updates, as the water problems had not directly caused flight cancellations but added significant stress to the travel experience.
The incident has prompted calls for a review of contingency planning at UK airports, particularly regarding essential utilities. Water industry observers pointed out that ageing infrastructure and increased demand during heatwaves can strain supply networks, though the specific reason for this failure remains under investigation.
