Bosses at Gatwick Airport have set aside £2 million to compensate passengers whose Christmas was ruined when flights to and from the airport were cancelled.

About 20,000 passengers stand to benefit from the airport’s goodwill gesture which will see a voucher for £100 posted to passengers within 28 days of a successful application for payment.

The voucher, administered by agency High Street Vouchers, is valid for almost all major retailers including Boots, WH Smiths, BHS and Superdrug.

The disruption at the airport on Christmas Eve is being investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Gatwick has also set up its own inquiry, with a report due in February.

Local flooding led to power outages at Gatwick, resulting in flight cancellations and long delays for departing travellers.

Bosses at the airport later admitted they were overwhelmed by the “extraordinarily adverse” weather which “significantly exceeded” forecasts and resulted in “significant damage” to an electrical substation.

It left thousands of passengers stranded at Gatwick’s North Terminal.

Some passengers were at Gatwick for as long as 12 hours, only to be sent home after learning their flight had been axed.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “We appreciate that lots of our passengers were travelling to be with their families over the festive period and we are sorry that flights were cancelled and passengers left disappointed, particularly at this time of the year.

“With this in mind, Gatwick will be offering £100 of high street vouchers to each passenger whose flight was cancelled on Christmas Eve as a gesture of goodwill in recognition of the excep- tionally difficult circumstances.”

Passengers whose flights were cancelled should email customer.services @gatwickairport.com with their postal address and evidence of their booking on a flight due to depart from or arrive at Gatwick Airport on Tuesday, December 24.