At least 20 easyJet flights have been cancelled following days of delays and cancellations from airlines across the UK’s airports.

The budget airline confirmed “a small portion” of flights were cancelled on Saturday, largely pointing to issues at London’s Gatwick airport and Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.

A total of 20 flights were listed as cancelled at Gatwick Airport on Saturday, while 17 were marked as delayed.

A further 16 flights urged passengers to contact easyJet, suggesting they were also cancelled.

British Airways, Wizz Air and Vueling also had flights listed as cancelled or delayed from Gatwick on Saturday, but the numbers were significantly lower.

Meanwhile, the majority of flights for every airline at Schiphol airport were either listed as delayed or cancelled.

A spokeswoman for easyJet said: “easyJet will operate around 1,700 flights carrying around a quarter of a million customers each day over the bank holiday weekend, with a small proportion cancelled in advance either last week or overnight and (passengers were) informed of their options to rebook or receive a refund.

“Airlines continue to operate in a challenging environment including with air traffic control restrictions operating today at London Gatwick and issues with ground operations at several airports including at Amsterdam where the airport has requested airlines to cancel some flying today. As a result a small proportion of additional flights could be subject to disruption today.

“We fully understand the inconvenience this will have caused to our customers and we are very sorry for this.”

A Gatwick Airport spokesman said air traffic control restrictions are largely down to weather and staffing issues across Europe, and the airport is not the only one facing issues.

He said: “Poor weather and air traffic control issues across Europe are restricting the number of flights that can use European airspace and is causing significant delays and some cancellations at Gatwick.”

Passengers planning to use the bank holiday for an overseas break have been blighted by travel chaos this week, with airlines cancelling more than 150 UK flights on Wednesday.

The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Government met with senior leaders from the aviation industry including airports, airlines and ground handling companies to help tackle the issues.