Tears At Gatwick And Fears Summer Holidays Will Also Be Ruined As More Flights Cancelled

Thousands of airline passengers are facing fresh disruption as widespread flight cancellations continue — with travel agents inundated with calls from customers worried the chaos will carry on and ruin their summer holidays.

EasyJet cancelled at least 35 flights on Tuesday, with Gatwick the worst affected airport, while Hungarian carrier Wizz Air axed at least seven flights due to serve UK airports.

British Airways cancelled 124 Heathrow flights, although the airline said affected passengers were given advance notice.

Meanwhile, hundreds of check-in and ground staff employed by BA at Heathrow have started voting on strike action.

Members of the Unite and GMB unions are being balloted in a dispute over pay which could cause chaos at the UK's busiest airport during the summer holiday period.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, which represents independent travel agents, said:

"About 30% of all calls that they're receiving now are from customers that are reading the headlines, have bookings for July and August in the school holidays, and they are worried."

She acknowledged the situation is "hideous and disappointing" for passengers whose flights are being cancelled, but added travel agents are trying to reassure customers that "in the vast majority of cases flights are departing and arriving".

There has been a "significant surge" in demand for holidays this year, she said, creating a "bottleneck" in the system.

The number of people who jetted off during last week's half-term school break was 21% higher than 2019 levels, while summer holiday bookings are at around 80% of normal.

"I'm confident that the industry will get to a point where these bottlenecks will be sorted," she added.

Diego Garcia Rodriguez, 32, a Spanish national who lives in Brighton, said there had so far been no changes to his Barcelona flight, but other passengers have been left in tears at Gatwick.

He said:

"I have seen lots of people whose flights have been cancelled, some crying and stressing out and they only got the news after having gone through the security control so they didn't know how to get out. There was no information and it was all very chaotic."

One passenger told Sky News:

"I've been queuing here for over an hour and a half now, because they've only got one person doing check-in for Wizz Air. Our flight leaves in an hour and I'm not sure if we will be able to check in on time."

He added: "The queue is not moving. We're going to be here all night."

Another passenger said she is almost out of pocket following the flight delays and cancellations.

"I'm just quite upset that I already booked one plane and now have to pay for another one to reach my destination. My plane leaves in 40 minutes and I am yet to check-in despite arriving early."

Another passenger said they are annoyed that their first holiday since the pandemic may face disruption.

"If we knew it was going to be cancelled in advance, we could've made other plans. I was really looking forward to this holiday - first one in ages and now it's looking like it won't happen."

Today's cancellations are the latest following months of disruption for UK airline passengers - leaving the holiday plans of tens of thousands of travellers in disarray.

The chaos has also impacted those who have managed to getaway, with many thousands of British holidaymakers finding themselves stranded across the rest of Europe after hundreds of flight cancellations.

The aviation industry is struggling to recruit new workers after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic - and a blame game has broken out over who is responsible for the crisis.

Airlines, airports and ground handling companies repeatedly called for sector-specific financial support during the COVID-19 crisis as lockdowns and travel restrictions suppressed demand.

Airlines are now suffering from staff shortages and say government red tape is delaying security checks on any new recruits.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has rejected calls to open the door to more "cheap" overseas workers to relieve the pressure on the sector.

He has claimed airlines and travel firms have "seriously oversold flights and holidays relative to their capacity to deliver" despite government warnings, and accused bosses of "cutting too far".

The cabinet minister has answered industry demands to speed up security checks for workers and allow some staff in non-security related jobs to take up training immediately.

But he has said it is up to the sector to fix the issues after receiving £8bn of state support and having access to furlough money to keep staff on the books while COVID travel restrictions were in place.