Airlines warn disruption at UK airports likely to continue into summer

Airlines fear that disruption at UK airports will continue into the summer as the travel industry struggles to deal with growing passenger numbers, and flight delays and cancellations accumulate. Airlines for Europe, Europe’s largest airline association, expects the problems plaguing the industry in the UK and Europe to persist “for a good chunk of the summer season”, according to a briefing document. The group, whose members include easyJet, British Airways owner IAG and Ryanair, blamed a combination of staff shortages across the industry, higher than normal sickness rates and long waits for new staff to pass background checks. The warning came as UK ministers criticised the travel industry for staffing shortages that have caused weeks of disruption to air travellers, with the pressure set to intensify during the busiest week for flying since the start of the pandemic, as the school half-term break coincides with a two-day bank holiday to commemorate the Queen’s platinum jubilee. Lord Stephen Parkinson, the arts minister, said on Tuesday that the government had “for many months” been urging the aviation industry to make sure it had enough staff to allow passengers to travel smoothly this summer as most coronavirus-related travel restrictions had been lifted across the UK and continental Europe. “We have been saying to the industry for quite some time they should have been prepared for this,” he told Sky News. “It is causing a lot of distress for people, particularly at half term, people with families and children with them. It is very distressing if you turn up at the airport and your flight isn’t ready.”<br/>