British travellers faced chaos on Monday morning as airlines cancelled more than 120 flights and Eurotunnel warned of three hour delays.
Easyjet and British Airways blamed staff absences from Covid for cancellations, while Eurotunnel said a broken down train caused delays.
Easter marks the first school holidays since the start of the pandemic and the end of travel restrictions.
That’s led to rising demand and frustration for holidaymakers.
Flight cancellations were down to combination of factors which had come together in “a perfect storm” , Simon Calder, travel correspondent at The Independent told the BBC.
“We have got very high levels of Covid in the nation and that is affecting the transport industry. But there are also more underlying problems which go back to the start of Covid,” he said.
These included a lack of staff after thousands of people left the aviation industry during the pandemic. Staff shortages have led to long queues at security and check-in.
Some passengers at Manchester Airport have missed their flights at the start of the Easter holidays as a result of queues.
There have also been complaints about extensive waits in the baggage reclaim halls.
Cancellations
EasyJet, one of Europe’s biggest airlines, said the cancellations-which included 62 from the UK- were a small part of its schedule on Monday, which is about 1,645 flights.
It apologised and said it had tried to offset the problem by using standby crew but was forced “to make some cancellations in advance”.
“As a result of the current high rates of Covid infections across Europe, like all businesses, EasyJet is experiencing higher than usual levels of employee sickness,” a spokesman said.
He said affected customers had been contacted and could rebook on alternative flights or receive a voucher or refund.
About 60 British Airways flights to and from Heathrow airport were cancelled on Monday. Fifty were cancelled in advance last week but 10 flights were late notice overnight cancellations, due to Covid sickness among staff.
The challenges of recruiting enough staff in time to replace the many who left during the pandemic had already forced BA to re-think its spring schedules.
Two weeks ago the airline took the decision to pro-actively remove some flights until May. It’s understood about 20 daily services, primarily on short haul routes, were taken out.
“As a precaution we’ve slightly reduced our schedule between now and the end of May as we ramp back up,” said BA.
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Eurotunnel warned motorists heading abroad to expect delays after a train “temporarily stopped” in the tunnel linking England to France.
The operator, which runs services from Folkestone to France, warned journeys could be delayed by up to three hours.
In a tweet the company apologised and urged passengers to “check in as normal”.
A spokesperson for Eurotunnel said: “As a result of a technical issue with a freight shuttle overnight, Eurotunnel is currently operating a reduced service. We expect to have full services running again later in the day.”
View original tweet on Twitter
Meanwhile, freight vehicles are still parked on the M20 and A20 around Dover, after three days of disruption for traffic crossing the English Channel.
Ferry capacity is reduced because of the suspension of P&O services and DFDS having two vessels out of action.
On Sunday, traveller Donna Mayfield told the BBC the situation at Manchester Airport was “horrendous”, while another said they had seen “customers and staff in tears”.
Manchester Airport apologised and admitted passengers’ experiences fell “below the standard we aim to provide”.
“The removal of all travel restrictions after two years, coupled with the start of the summer travel season, has seen a rapid increase in passenger numbers, which is putting an enormous strain on our operation,” a spokesman said.
Gatwick Airport told the BBC it also had a busy weekend as the Easter holidays kicked off.
Disruption at airports could go on for a while yet, warned John Strickland, director of JLS Consulting – an independent air transport consultancy.
“I think certainly the next month or two are going to be very difficult,” he told the BBC’s Wake Up To Money.
“We know that Manchester has said that passengers should expect queues for one to two hours for the next several weeks while they undertake additional training.”
He said that airlines like British Airways were also recruiting additional cabin crew.
“British Airways has actually reduced down a number of its flights up until the end of May to recognise that that way they can operate reliably those flights that they have the staff resources to handle.”
