As for food, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal has predicted that this year’s grain harvest is likely to be 20% lower than last year, due to the reduced sowing area after the Russian invasion. He said there was a shortage of fuel for farmers, but Ukraine knew how to supply it. He also said that Ukraine has large reserves of grain, cereals and vegetable oils and can feed its population (via Reuters). Before 19 p.m. 09:35 The following is a graph showing the jump in food prices: Updated at 09.36 BST Before 24 m. 09:30

World food prices are skyrocketing

An ear of corn in a field near the village of Hrebeni in the Kiev region, Ukraine. Photo: Valentyn Ogirenko / Reuters World food prices soared to a new record high in March as the war in Ukraine pushed up prices, adding to inflationary pressures on people around the world. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports that food prices rose by almost 13% last month, according to the index that monitors staple foods. Vegetable oils, cereals and meat hit record highs, while prices of sugar and dairy products also rose sharply. The Food and Agriculture Organization says the food price index, which tracks the most traded food products in the world, made a “huge leap” in March, to 159.3 points from 141.4 in February. Cereal prices rose by a record 19.7% in March due to the war in Ukraine, the FAO explains: This month’s increase reflects rising world prices for wheat and coarse grains, largely due to disruptions to exports from Ukraine and, to a lesser extent, to the Russian Federation due to the conflict. The expected loss of exports from the Black Sea region exacerbated the already limited global availability of wheat. With concerns about growing conditions in the United States also boosting support, world wheat prices rose sharply in March, jumping 19.7%. Vegetable oils also hit record highs, up 23% a month, as supplies from major exporters Russia and Ukraine fell. The sharp rise of the index is due to the higher prices of sunflower, palm oil, soybean and rapeseed oil. International sunflower oil prices rose sharply in March, fueled by declining export supplies amid continuing conflict in the Black Sea region. Meanwhile, prices for palm oil, soybeans and rapeseed oil also rose sharply, driven by rising global import demand following the disruption of sunflower oil supply. The conflict in Ukraine also contributed to last month’s record meat prices, which rose another 4.8%, the FAO added. In March, pork prices recorded the sharpest monthly increase since 1995, due to shortages of slaughtered pigs in Western Europe and rising domestic demand ahead of the coming Easter holidays. International poultry meat prices stabilized, fueled by reduced supplies from top exporting countries following cases of bird flu, further affected by Ukraine’s inability to export poultry meat amid the ongoing conflict. Updated at 09.54 BST 48 meters before 09:07 There is further unhappiness for some airline passengers today, with travel journalist Simon Calder reporting that British Airways canceled another 68 flights and easyJet canceled 42. There is a handy list here. Good morning from Heathrow Airport, where British Airways canceled another series of overnight flights – including Athens, Larnaca and Prague. Along with easyJet cancellations, there are at least 100 flights canceled today. More over the weekend 🔽https: //t.co/77bG9FEvf5 – Simon Calder (@SimonCalder) April 8, 2022 All current flight cancellations so far.68 on British Airways, including delayed landings to Athens, Larnaca and Prague.42 on easyJet, including Gatwick to Agadir and Bristol to Dubrovnik. Airlines must bring passengers to their destination todayhttps: // t.co/RIPvYaY64x – Simon Calder (@SimonCalder) April 8, 2022 Updated on 09.11 BST 1 hour before 08:50 Next weekend will also be very crowded on the streets of the UK as millions of people embark on an Easter getaway. AA estimates that more than 27.6 million car journeys are planned between Good Friday and Easter Monday (April 15-18). About 13.6 million are expected on Good Friday alone, leading to fears of falling behind on popular tourist routes. AA spokesman Tony Ritz said: “The Easter holidays seem to be giving British tourism the impetus it needs, as people are cutting back on travel abroad. “With more than 27.6 million trips scheduled for bank holiday weekends, we can expect significant congestion across the UK as people flock to coastal resorts and holiday homes.”

  • Drivers are warned of long delays next weekend as millions of people embark on an Easter getaway. AA estimates that more than 27.6 million car journeys are planned between Good Friday and Easter Monday. pic.twitter.com/tpGFN1XWRH – TSC International News (@news_tsc) April 8, 2022 Updated at 08.52 BST 1 hour ago 08:37

Manchester Airport: We do not have enough staff

Passengers line up for check-in at Terminal 1 of Manchester Airport this week. Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty Images The boss of the owner of the Manchester airport admitted that the airport does not have enough staff and warned that the long queues at the airport could be maintained for months. Charlie Cornish, managing director of Manchester Airports Group, wrote an open letter to passengers apologizing for the inconvenience and explaining that the airport was unable to recruit staff quickly enough. Cornish says: “The simple fact is that at the moment we do not have the number of staff we need to provide the level of service our passengers deserve. “Despite our efforts since last autumn, the narrow job market around the airport has resulted in us not being able to hire people fast enough to form a complete team. “Practically, staff shortages mean we can not open all the security lanes we need and, sometimes, this results in longer queues than we want to see. “While we still expect that most passengers will pass in less than 30-40 minutes, there will be times in the coming months when waiting times will increase between 60 and 90 minutes.” Cornish explains that the airport has interviewed 4,000 staff over the past two months and expects about 250 new security staff to be operational by early May. Staff with the right level of security clearance has also been deployed to assist. Cornish advises passengers to arrive at the airport three hours before the departure of their flight, to allow enough time to check in, go through security and reach the departure gate. He said the airport did not want to reduce capacity and force airlines to cancel flights, as this would cause “huge disruption to vacations, business trips and long-awaited visits to see friends and family”. The managing director of Manchester Airport resigned earlier this week amid growing criticism of the chaos that has left thousands of passengers losing their flights due to queues lasting up to seven hours. Deputy chief executive Ken O’Toole told the BBC that the chaotic scenes last weekend were an “isolated incident”. But O’Toole insists people would rather queue than watch their flight be canceled. We want to protect the full flight schedule. “We want to make sure that after two years that people do not escape, those trips that have been closed can be made,” he said. “This unfortunately means that sometimes there will be queues that are not acceptable, it is not what we are looking for. “But the compromise between this situation or the cancellation of many flights for people – something other airports have done in recent weeks – we think people would rather accept a queue and make sure to leave.” These queues were extremely long, however, with some passengers having to wait up to eight hours at terminal buildings before they could check in. Updated at 08.39 BST 2 hours ago 08:12

Airlines and inter-channel services prepare for Covid’s busiest weekend

White Topham As a busy weekend approaches, passengers are being asked to leave extra time to negotiate queues at airports, as high rates of Covid infections exacerbate staff shortages at check-in and security, writes transport correspondent Gwyn Topham. Meanwhile, the reversals on the main roads to the English Channel are expected to intensify, as Eurotunnel expects an increase in both directions and P&O Ferries’ routes remain suspended. Passengers booked by P&O on the Dover-Calais route have been told they will not be able to travel this weekend as rival DFDS, which served P&O customers, is now fully booked. Airports are redeploying licensed office staff to front-line roles where possible to mitigate the chaotic scenes of recent days, especially at Manchester Airport. EasyJet, which had to cancel hundreds of flights this week, said it would preemptively cancel another 50 flights a day over the weekend to minimize disruption. Large numbers of crew remain ill with Covid, affecting services in Gatwick, Luton and Manchester. However, the airline said it would continue to operate more flights than at any other time since 2019 – about 1,600 a day, 300 more than in August 2021. 2 hours ago 08:06

Introduction: The aviation industry has been warned of a worrying upheaval

Good morning and welcome to the rolling coverage of business, the global economy and the financial markets. UK airlines and airports have been warned of levels of passenger disturbance as people head out for Easter, some for the first time since the pandemic began. After days of long queues, cancellations and chaotic scenes at airports, the aviation regulator has warned travel companies to stop canceling last-minute flights and immediately pay compensation to annoyed passengers. Civil Aviation Authority CEO Richard Moriarty sent a letter to airlines and airports saying: “The cases of cancellations of late notification and excessive delays at airports are not only …