Proactive Investors - Ryanair (LON:0RYA) and easyJet (LON:EZJ) have been forced to suspend flights in and out of Luton Airport after a fire partially destroyed a car park at the site on Tuesday evening.
At least 140 flights are said to have been cancelled while the airport suspends operations until three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, with some 25,000 passengers set to be affected.
“Our priority remains supporting the emergency services and the safety of our passengers and staff,” the airport said in a statement.
“We’re working hard to get the airport operational as soon as possible.”
easyJet and Ryanair are among airlines that operate out of Luton, alongside the likes of Wizz Air Holdings PLC (LON:WIZZ) and Tui AG.
easyJet said in a statement that it would offer refunds or rebooking for those affected, while Ryanair said passengers would be contacted via email or SMS “as soon as possible”.
“The safety and well-being of customers and crew is easyJet’s highest priority and although this situation is outside of our control, we would like to apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused,” the former said.
Wizz echoed the statement, adding its flights would have to be cancelled also.
More than 100 firefighters attended the scene as the airport’s second terminal car park went up in flames on Tuesday evening.
Around 1,500 vehicles were said to be in the car park at the time, many of which were not damaged, according to reports.
Shares in Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz and Tui were all trading lower on Wednesday afternoon.