People stuck in airport corridor as shuttle stops

Hundreds of people have been stuck in a corridor at Stansted Airport after a shuttle service for arriving passengers ceased operating.

Elaine Rollings, who landed at the Essex terminal on Friday afternoon from Tenerife, said she and about 1,000 people had been waiting for more than 90 minutes.

"More planes are arriving and feeding into this corridor, getting fuller and fuller," said the 60-year-old, speaking to the BBC.

Stansted Airport said the transit system was the subject of a planned closure between midday and 18:00 BST, but alternative coaches had been laid on.

The spokesperson said 10 diverted aircraft from Gatwick Airport, because of a grounded plane at the runway in West Sussex, had increased arrival numbers at Stansted.

Rollings, from Great Leighs near Chelmsford, who was travelling with her husband Peter, was being held up in the corridor that usually takes passengers to the shuttle service.

"It's very warm in here. There are loads of people, screaming babies, it's mayhem," she said.

"They say they're going to lay on buses, but nothing's happening."

Rollings said she eventually left the airport by 18:30, having landed at about 15:45.

A spokesperson for Stansted said a "full coaching contingency service" had been in operation while the "support track transit system" had been out of action.

"There is a lot of ongoing work relating to the system and its eventual decommissioning, to allow the terminal building to be extended," they said.

"It's a very busy time of the year with 10 diverted aircraft from Gatwick due to a runway closure adding to an already busy day, so wait times for coach transfers have been longer than we would normally expect."

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