British Airways and easyJet canceled more than 150 flights to and from the UK on Wednesday as holidaymakers faced further delays in the boat lounge during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee holiday.
BA canceled at least 124 short-haul flights to Heathrow Airport, although the airline said passengers received advance notice.
The low-cost carrier easyJet canceled at least 31 flights to Gatwick Airport, including those scheduled to depart for Bologna, Barcelona, Prague, Krakow and Edinburgh.
Tour operator Tui has canceled six flights a day from Manchester Airport throughout June. Manchester Airport blamed the measure on staff shortages in Tui and its ground manager Swissport, which handles check-in and baggage handling.
On the last day of flight cancellations and airport disruptions, an easyJet passenger tweeted a photo taken shortly after 4am at Manchester Airport, showing a long queue of people at the airport. terminal parking.
Describing the situation as “carnage”, the passenger wrote: “It took two hours and 45 minutes to pass, most of which was the delivery of luggage. Now on the plane, but due to scarcity. of the ground crew, there will be another delay of approximately 50 minutes. “
Manchester Airport expects more than 330,000 passengers to pass through the airport between Thursday 2 June and Sunday 5 June. The airport apologized for the disruption and said it was in contact with senior management of airlines and ground operators. Passengers are advised to arrive three hours before the flight.
Another easyJet passenger complained that he had to wait more than two and a half hours to pick up his luggage, after landing in Gatwick shortly before 3am. He said this was “just not good enough”.
Travelers have faced several weeks of delays and disruptions at airports across the UK, with demand for overseas travel recovered following the easing of all Covid travel restrictions in the UK United.
Many aviation workers were laid off or left the sector during the pandemic, when international travel was blocked for months at a time during confinements and, as business rebounded, airlines and airlines airports are struggling to recruit staff and get their security clearance. finished.
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Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps criticized the travel companies, saying they had “seriously oversold flights and vacations in relation to their delivery capacity.”
Shapps, in a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, said he had called for a meeting with airports, airlines and ground operators to “find out what went wrong and how they plan to end the current series of cancellations and delays.” .
Shapps added: “This should not happen again and all efforts should be made to ensure that it is not repeated during the summer.”
Airlines and airports have said they had repeatedly called for sector-specific financial support during the pandemic, as Covid’s government travel restrictions made international travel difficult and expensive.