BRITS hoping to go away for a holiday are still facing huge queues and chaos at airports across the UK.
Passengers at airports including Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick and Bristol have complained of the long waits as they attempt to travel during the last week of the Easter break.
3
At Manchester Airport, one passenger said: “5am Monday and it is already pure chaos. This is not planning. It is not even reaction to the events. It is just leave everything to luck. Pure disgrace!
A father of two even said he arrived more than 13 hours early for his flight at Manchester due to fears about the long queues.
And there were delays after landing too – one woman said she had waited nearly “two hours” with tired kids to get their bags back.
Another passenger said: “What an absolute disgrace of an airport. It’s almost 2am no sign of bags NO STAFF ANYWHERE TO SPEAK TO. This is appalling. Staff have literally abandoned the passengers.”
Passengers at Bristol Airport said they waited more than 90 minutes to get their luggage back, while others said it was more than an hour just to drop their bags before their flight.
Baggage problems have also been reported at Gatwick and Heathrow, where passengers have waiting more than an hour both at security and at baggage reclaim.
A Gatwick Airport passenger said: “Not even 6am and the security queues @Gatwick_Airport North snake the whole departure hall, it’s difficult to see where the queue ends to join! Anyone travelling today will need to allow extra time.”
Another person wrote: “3 people at passport control and just been told there’s a 3 hour wait to reclaim baggage! What a shambles.”
Lucy Moreton, spokeswoman for the Immigration Services Union that represents Border Force told Bloomberg: “Queues are anticipated as travelers return later this week.”
The huge queues are due to a number of reasons, including staff shortages due to Covid and slow recruitment.
According to Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, UK airports need to recruit tens of thousands of staff, with Heathrow alone needing 12,000 staff.
Lst week it was announced that police could be drafted in to help Manchester Airport, and now Border staff from Northern Ireland and Scotland could also be sent in to help the queues at Heathrow Airport.
Airlines are continuing to cancel flights too, with at least another 100 cancelled between British Airways and easyJet, although all of the BA cancellations are due to their schedule changes, with passengers previously informed.
Fifty-eight British Airways flights have been cancelled while easyJet has cancelled 32 flights, the majority from Gatwick Airport.
Destinations affected include Venice, Berlin and Milan, as well as a number of domestic flights.
It isn’t just airports that have been causing chaos for British travellers.
P&O has suspended all services to Calais until Good Friday, after cancelling all routes over the weekend.
Dover port is battling to get through the Easter holiday rush after P&O sacked 800 of its workers – and has had to contend with bad weather.
3
3
For all the latest Travel News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
