Staff shortages and the start of the Easter holiday rush after Covid are causing a large number of flight cancellations and huge queues at airports. Delays and cancellations are mainly to blame for “staff shortages and recruitment challenges”, and a sudden increase in passenger numbers – both caused by Covid and the lifting of restrictions that have been in place for most of the past two years. The chaos has already meant that families have lost their flights and been left out of their pockets after hours of queuing to get through security. This weekend is scheduled to see the first wave of travelers arriving home, while the next wave has begun for their Easter break, which is expected to lead to numbers of passengers who have not seen airports and docks before the pandemic. Yesterday, British Airways canceled at least 78 flights to and from Heathrow, while easyJet canceled at least 30 flights to Gatwick. Airports advise customers to contact their airline to see when they should arrive, while some insist that passengers arrive three hours before their departure time, but not earlier – to avoid queues. Meanwhile, at Manchester Airport, where staff shortages have also led to huge unrest, Greater Manchester Police, as well as emergency staff, are being called in to try to make the weekend as smooth as possible. Vacationers have been warned to prepare for Saturday from hell, as airport and port bosses prepare to increase the number of passengers leading up to the busiest day of the year to date. In the photo: Huge queues of passengers at Heathrow Terminal 2 There is also travel chaos at Manchester Airport with huge queues for departures leading to families missing flights In addition to the chaos at airports, high demand for DFDS ships in Dover has skyrocketed resulting in huge queues in Kent GMP police chief Stephen Watson says the force is ready to assist at Manchester Airport this weekend
The works will take place on the subway and on the railways on Easter weekend
Millions of travelers face a nightmare of Easter holidays due to turmoil and rising prices on trains, planes and roads. Large sections of the railway network will be closed for engineering projects worth 83 83 million during the busy four-day weekend. More than 500 signaling and trajectory upgrades across the country include the closure of London’s Euston and Victoria stations on most services. It will wreak havoc on the thousands of football fans traveling to the FA Cup semi-finals between Manchester City and Liverpool and Chelsea and Crystal Palace at Wembley Stadium. Trains to London from the North West and West Midlands will stop at Milton Keynes Central, which means other routes to the capital are flooded. The FA urges fans from the north to avoid the railways and use specially equipped buses or to travel before the weekend. All the South Trains between London Victoria and East Croydon have axes, also wreaking havoc on air passengers who land or try to reach Gatwick Airport. It means that the passengers of the trains that are diverted through the London Bridge are in chaos. The London Underground on Piccadilly’s route to Britain’s busiest airport, Heathrow, will be suspended and buses will also replace trains for part of the journey between the capital and Stansted Airport. However, Chief of Staff Stephen Watson ruled out the possibility of his officers “doing luggage handling”. The Chief Constable said: “We have already put in extra police officers over the weekend. “Of course, you would not expect to see police doing baggage handling and there is no prospect of that, because we were not asked to do that. “We have a lot of people who, through no fault of their own, are in very long queues and sometimes there is some frustration. And so we have increased our presence just to ensure that people keep their heads down in the situation. “I know for a fact that among us, the airport authorities, the mayor and all the people are acting in good faith to try to solve these problems. “But we are a key partner in helping with the security element [of] what is happening at the airport, and we are willing to intervene to do what we can to overcome this chaos. Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham warned yesterday that the chaos at the city’s airport could last for two months. He called on ministers to give priority to security checks for new staff. The disruption is set to last for months and will be exacerbated by rail engineering over the four-day Easter weekend next week. Large sections of the railway network will be closed for engineering projects worth 83 83 million during the busy four-day weekend. More than 500 signaling and trajectory upgrades across the country include the closure of London’s Euston and Victoria stations on most services. Trains to London from the North West and West Midlands will stop at Milton Keynes Central, which means other routes to the capital are flooded. On Tuesday, Karen Smart, managing director of the Manchester Airports Group – which is responsible for Manchester, East Midlands and Stansted Airports – resigned to “seek new career opportunities”. In the photo: Passengers at Birmingham Airport also saw huge queues for people waiting to pass through security this week Chaos was already prevailing from 5.30 p.m. at Manchester Airport this week and is expected to be worse on Saturday It comes as customers of the embarrassed transit company P&O Ferries face disaster over their Easter holiday after rivals who had closed completely said they could not price their tickets from Dover to France this weekend. Anyone with a ticket from P&O has been able to travel with DFDS, one of Europe’s largest shipping companies, in recent weeks. This came as a result of the company suspending its services after firing 800 crew members last month and is in the process of replacing them with cheaper staff. But this reciprocal agreement expires on Friday, leaving ticket holders in a hurry to receive refunds from P&O and re-book with its competitor. This could lead to further queues and blocked roads around Dover Harbor, after three hours of waiting last Saturday, due to fewer services following the disaster relief. Disturbances at airports and docks across the country have wreaked havoc on families seeking to enjoy a Covid-free trip for the first time in two years. Passengers have complained that their flights were canceled at the last minute or that they were put on alternative flights, incurring additional costs or shortening their holidays. A Lancashire family was deprived of their holiday and left 00 1,500 out of pocket after losing their flights due to the ongoing chaos at Manchester Airport – despite the fact that their plane returned to the runway only to tell them they could not take their places. Staff shortages have hit every team at airports, including baggage handlers, forcing passengers to leave. Photo: A DFDS ferry passes by P&O Ferries the Pride of Kent (left) and Pride of Canterbury (right) moored at Dover Harbor in Kent, as the latter remains suspended following the dismissal of 800 P&O Ferries employees without warning Michelle Donohue, 32, planned a four-day trip to Rome with her husband Robert and their 12-year-old son. The family was due to fly from Manchester Airport on Tuesday via Ryanair at 7:15 a.m. Knowing the current situation at the airport, they planned to arrive at the airport a little over four hours earlier after leaving home at 3 in the morning. But on arrival, they were immediately greeted with a “nightmarish” view of the endless queues and, after queuing for four and a half hours, were told they could not board their flight because the gate closed a few minutes before they arrived. Michelle and her husband paid 1500 1,500 for the flights and while they were able to receive a refund for their booking activities in Rome, her travel insurance will not be able to pay for the flight due to unprecedented circumstances for which she lost flight. Instead, it is now up to her to fill out a complaint form and contact Manchester Airport. A spokesman for Manchester Airport said: “We apologize to the passengers whose experience at Manchester Airport in recent days has been below the standard they were expecting. “Our industry is facing challenges in scaling back operations very quickly after the lifting of the Covid restrictions, which have caused enormous damage to our industry over the last two years. “We are actively recruiting for hundreds of new roles in areas including safety, but we advise passengers that due to lack of staff, they may have to wait longer than they are used to in the coming weeks and that they should reach the first time their airline. “We understand that airlines and third party service providers on our site face similar challenges and we work with them to provide the best experience we can under the circumstances.” A passenger told MailOnline: “I arrived 36 hours late for my ski holiday in the French Alps because BA canceled our flight to Grenoble. “To make matters worse, they managed to leave my bag in London, so I had to spend a morning together making something for skiing. “So the 6-day ski break was reduced to 4.5. Three days later, my bag has not been returned to me yet. I have not heard anything from BA about where it is, so I have to borrow clothes from my family to wear them every night. “For vacations that have been postponed for two years, it is very disappointing.” Other passengers similarly complained about the airlines re-booking their departures a day earlier, with a customer writing on Twitter: “Outraged by @easyJet …
