Flights were cancelled and faced delays after the main runway at Gatwick airport was closed on Sunday.
The closure followed a storm and heavy rainfall, with reports suggesting a hole had opened up in the runway as a result.
A Gatwick spokesman confirmed that the south runway was temporarily closed on Sunday afternoon, and admitted it would have knock-on effects.
He said: “Our main runway was temporarily closed at 15.48 while we investigated a reported issue. We switched our operation to the [secondary] northern runway to keep flights departing and arriving from Gatwick.
“There will, however, be some delays to flights and cancellations because of this. The safety and security of our airport and passengers is our number one priority, but we’d like to apologise to passengers impacted today. Passengers should check with their airline as to the status of their flight.”