PASSENGERS booked on a flight from Gatwick to Florence were told the plane departed empty due to delays at the airport that have seen flights delayed or cancelled.

Vueling flight VY6209 was due to take off for the Italian city at 8.20pm on Monday, but the plane left two hours late with no one on board for the 734-mile flight.

Nisha Gupta, 32, from Windsor was booked on the flight with her husband Ash.

She told PA they were forced to queue for more than four hours to check-in luggage but were told at the departure gate that no passengers could board the plane due to a staff shortage.

She said: “Eventually we were told by staff that the pilots made a decision to fly the plane back empty without a single passenger on board due to Florence airspace closing.

“The environmental impact of this is insane and a decision was clearly made to prioritise cost implications over customer experience and environmental impact.

“Throughout this entire experience, there was a maximum of three staff members dealing with all Vueling flights that day.

“We got to the airport at 3pm and did not leave until 2am after having to wait around and give details to the one staff member dealing with all cancelled flights, taking details and trying to book people into hotels.”

Nisha said that no food or drinks or meal vouchers were provided for the stranded customers.

It comes as other airlines continue to axe flights, including Easyjet who cancelled more than 30 flights at Gatwick today.

Disruption is expected to worsen this week due to the rise in demand from the half-term school holiday and the four-day bank holiday weekend for the Platinum Jubilee.

Passengers have been forced to wait in long queues at airports across the country, including Manchester, Heathrow, Bristol, Stansted and Gatwick.

The airline was approached for comment.