British travellers are facing more disruptions during the Easter holiday break as two major airlines, British Airways and easyJet, cancelled about 100 flights Wednesday, due to staff shortages.
Thousands of U.K. holidaymakers have seen their Easter getaways disrupted or cancelled because airlines and airports do not have enough staff to meet the recovery in demand as pandemic restrictions are eased in Europe.
High rates of COVID-19 in Britain have caused staff absences for airlines and airports that were already struggling to recruit after workers fled the industry during the pandemic.
Low-cost carrier easyJet was one of the worst affected, saying it cancelled around 60 UK flights on Tuesday and expected to pull a similar number in the coming days. It cancelled more than 200 at the weekend and another 62 on Monday.
British Airways said many of its cancellations include flights that were cut when it decided last month to reduce its schedule until the end of May to boost reliability amid rising COVID-19 cases.
easyJet said it was rostering additional standby crew, but it had cancelled some flights on routes where it runs frequent services so passengers had options to rebook.
Queues at Manchester Airport, Britain’s third busiest after London’s Heathrow and Gatwick, snaked out of one terminal on Tuesday, and passengers complained of hours waiting at the baggage carousel.
The airport has apologised for the disruption.
Britain’s Airport Operators Association said its members were increasing staff as quickly as possible.
But a combination of a tight labour market, delays in the security checks for new and returning staff as well as COVID-related absences could put some airports under strain.
Dublin Airport, and Germany’s biggest airport operator Fraport, have also warned passengers that lengthy queues were likely for weeks as it rebuilds its operation and recruits and trains new staff.
Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier whose passenger numbers topped pre-pandemic levels last month, has called on the Irish government to use the army to deal with the delays, fearing the impact on the key Easter holiday period.
Source: AAP
