UK holidaymakers face travel chaos as Covid forces flight cancellations

Holidaymakers have been warned to expect disruption when travelling over the spring and summer, as airlines and airports struggle to rehire staff following the pandemic. The Easter getaway got off to a difficult start as British Airways and easyJet cancelled scores of flights on Monday because of staff shortages, including from rising Covid-19 infections. Airlines had already cancelled 1,143 flights to and from the UK between March 28 and April 3, up from just 197 over the same period in 2019, according to data provider Cirium. The cancellations come at the start of the first busy travel period since all UK Covid travel rules were removed. Industry bosses have celebrated surging demand for foreign holidays after two years of pandemic restrictions. But they also fear that airports and airlines will be unable to handle the mass return of passengers after companies cut tens of thousands of jobs to help them survive the pandemic, particularly as Covid infections soar once again. “Airlines are certainly seeing a high level of demand to fly, but are simply unable to cope with that demand due to a lack of resources. It’s a nightmare situation for airlines and airports at the moment,” said Paul Charles, a travel industry consultant. The Airport Operators Association has warned that operations could face “some strain” in the coming months, and told passengers to expect longer queues at peak travel times. Karen Dee, the lobby group’s CE, blamed “a very competitive labour market” and delays in government security background checks on new staff. One aviation executive said it was taking much longer than usual for staff to go through government-required background checks, in part because large parts of the travel industry had started recruiting simultaneously.<br/>