Flight cancellation

The UK's largest airport asked airlines to cut the flights because it was expecting more passenger numbers than it can currently cope with.

Some passengers did not know that their flights were cancelled until they arrived at the airport.

Heathrow said the cancellations were necessary for safety.

Travel writer and broadcaster Andy Mossack tweeted that there was "total chaos" and "zero customer service" at the airport on Thursday morning.

It said when the Air Vanuatu special flight arrived in Tonga today the quarantine facilities were already full with passengers who were repatriated back to Tonga on May 5.

Communication and Information CEO Paula Ma’u told Kaniva News the special flight was chartered by a Ni Vanuatu expatriate in Tonga to return his deceased father to Vanuatu.

Vanuatu citizens who were stranded in Tonga have returned home on that special flight.