TUI customers have been left furious after days of delays and chaos this week – and flight cancellations are set to continue this weekend.
Police were forced to tell exhausted Tui passengers their flight was cancelled after eight-hour delays during the week.
EasyJet cancelled a further 42 flights from Gatwick yesterday, including departures heading to Marseille, Montpellier and Nice, while German operator TUI axed another six.
British Airways slashed more than 120 short-haul flights to and from Heathrow.
It brings the total number of flights grounded in the last week alone to over 700, with Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester among the worst hit.
More than 30,000 Tui passengers due to fly from Manchester Airport alone over the next month will have their holiday plans crushed by the end of today.
Read our TUI cancellations live blog below for the latest updates…
- Joseph Gamp
EU compensation available
Flight delay compensation rules remain the same following the end of the Brexit transition period, as the Government has written EU261 into UK law, so you’ll get the same cover you would if the UK had remained in the EU.
Customers who have a cancelled flights will receive a full refund within 14 days, offered a gesture of goodwill to apologise and, where applicable, in accordance with EU Regulation (EC) 261/2004, customers due to travel within 14 days are entitled to flight delay compensation.
To claim compensation though, usually your flight needs to have departed from a UK airport, arrived into a UK airport and was with a UK or EU airline or arrived into the EU and was with a UK airline.
You could be able to claim for £220 per person on shorter journeys, and £520 on longer distances says one travel expert.
There is one difference however – you’ll now be paid in pounds rather than euros if you’re claiming under UK law.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that if you fly between two European countries, or fly on an EU-regulated flight which is nothing to do with the UK (eg, from Amsterdam to Australia on KLM), you’ll still be covered under EU261 as the law doesn’t require you to be an EU citizen to claim compensation.
- Joseph Gamp
Union says aviation firms ‘should hang their heads in shame’
Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said those in charge of UK aviation companies “should hang their heads in shame”.
She went on: “They got very rich on high profits and low pay.
“They then sacked and slashed wages for thousands of workers without a second thought during the pandemic.
“Now they are reaping what they have sown because, understandably, people don’t want to work for them anymore.”
- Joseph Gamp
Queues 'moving smoothly' at Dublin airport after busy morning
The Dublin Airport Authority has said queues are moving "smoothly" on Saturday morning, with a maximum wait to get through security of under an hour at the busiest period.
The airport has come under pressure from the public and government over long queues last weekend which caused more than 1,000 passengers to miss their flights.
Ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend, the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) had said that 10% more staff were working and double the number of security lanes were open compared to last weekend.
The DAA said that from 4am on Saturday there were 11 security lanes open in both Terminal 1 and 2, with a "maximum queue time of 59 mins in T1 prior to 6am and 40 mins in T2".
Queue times at 6.30am were 30 minutes in T1 and 19 minutes in T2, it added.
The DAA plans to introduce holding areas for passengers who arrive too early for their scheduled flight.
Short-haul car parks at both terminals, as well as the area outside the terminals where passengers have been queuing, may be used from next week onward during busy periods.
"We do not envisage the need to deploy it this weekend," the DAA said
- Matt Snape
Long delays and flight cancellations causing travel chaos
Thousands of passengers intending to return to the UK at the end of the main half-term week will experience flight cancellations and long delays.
Independent.co.uk reports that while most travellers were given several days’ warning and could rebook using other services, 14 easyJet departures from Gatwick airport have so far been cancelled on the morning. They include flights to Nice, Seville and Milan, and the return legs, plus three of the four departures to Amsterdam.
Although the cancelling airline must provide an alternative departure on the same day, including paying for flights on rival airlines if necessary, availability is scarce and prices are high.
- Matt Snape
Travel advice for those worried about cancelled flights
Britons’ travel plans are being thrown into chaos, and here is some advice on what to do.
Rory Boland, the Editor of Which? Travel, told The Guardian: “Make sure to book where there is free cancellation, or at least the ability to move the holiday or accommodation booking,” Lots of firms allow you free cancellation or the ability to move the holiday.”
He added: “I would definitely say that if you don’t have kids of school age [for example], don’t think about going until September. Save yourself the pain. It’s nicer anyway in Europe in September.” You will also get better prices and should have less likelihood of disruption, he adds.
- Matt Snape
Britons face airport misery
Airports are struggling to cope with a surge of UK travellers returning home for the Jubilee celebrations.
Bloomberg reports that massive queues are expected at airport passport controls while roads will be full with 19 million drivers expected to drive over the weekend, according to the Automobile Association.
Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee has triggered an exodus to locations including Dublin and Palma de Mallorca.
Many travellers will return home on Sunday, testing the capacity of airports’ ability to process arrivals.
- Matt Snape
How to prepare for your flight
Arrive before you travel to the airport to slash the time it will take you to reach your gate, according to inews.co.uk.
You might also opt to travel with carry-on luggage only, as travel experts have suggested to holidaymakers in the past week.
If you are travelling to a location that insists on proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test have printed copies of these to hand, or have them ready to present on your mobile phone.
If your flight is due to leave, but you find yourself entangled in a security queue, make a member of airport staff aware.
- Matt Snape
How to opt for a flight with less stress
Booking outside the peak periods of the school holidays or bank holiday weekends should guarantee that you miss the worst of airport overcrowding, according to inews.co.uk.
Meanwhile, studies have demonstrated that morning flights are less likely to be affected by delays that departures later in the day.
If both your route to the airport and your destination allow for you to fly from a smaller hub, it would be advisable to do so due to recent delays.
- Matt Snape
Which airlines are cancelling the most flights?
365 passenger flights departing from UK airports were cancelled in the past week, according to inews.co.uk.
EasyJet cancelled the most flights at a rate of 46 per cent.
Tui is cancelling a quarter of its departures from Manchester airport, affecting 34,000 travellers. Flights from Cardiff have also been disrupted.
BA cancelled some 120 flights on Thursday.
- Matt Snape
Cancellation rights explained
EU Regulation 261/2004 gives you rights to compensation for any flight leaving from the UK, regardless of the airline.
It is still enshrined in British law, despite Brexit.
According to inews.co.uk, if your flight is cancelled more than 14 days before departure, your airline must provide you with a full refund.
It may offer you an alternative flight.
Also, if you decide to take this flight and it is delayed, you are entitled to varying levels of compensation.
- Matt Snape
Wizz Air declares huge number of flight cancellations to and from Doncaster Sheffield airport
Wizz Air has declared it is cancelling a large number of flights to and from Doncaster Sheffield Airport from June 10.
According to itv.com, these include flights to Lanzarote, Malaga, Alicante and Tenerife.
The airline stated it is because of the airport suggesting it cannot guarantee the terms of its commercial agreement.
Wizz Air said passengers who are affected will be contacted by email and offered the chance to rebook or get a refund.
- Matt Snape
Jet2 denies head blamed travel disruption on ‘lazy Brits’
Airline Jet2 has denied reports stating its CEO Steve Heapy blamed “lazy Brits who live off benefits and sit on their arses” for potential travel disruption.
Wales Online reports that Mr Heapy supposedly made the comments at a meeting between Department for Transport ministers and airlines bosses.
The gathering was intended to end the turmoil seen across British airports in the past month, and the Jet2 CEO was “rumoured” to have said the comments.
But Jet2 says these are “categorically not” the views of Mr Heapy or the airline itself.
- Joseph Gamp
EU compensation available
Flight delay compensation rules remain the same following the end of the Brexit transition period, as the Government has written EU261 into UK law, so you’ll get the same cover you would if the UK had remained in the EU.
Customers who have a cancelled flights will receive a full refund within 14 days, offered a gesture of goodwill to apologise and, where applicable, in accordance with EU Regulation (EC) 261/2004, customers due to travel within 14 days are entitled to flight delay compensation.
To claim compensation though, usually your flight needs to have departed from a UK airport, arrived into a UK airport and was with a UK or EU airline or arrived into the EU and was with a UK airline.
You could be able to claim for £220 per person on shorter journeys, and £520 on longer distances says one travel expert.
There is one difference however – you’ll now be paid in pounds rather than euros if you’re claiming under UK law.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that if you fly between two European countries, or fly on an EU-regulated flight which is nothing to do with the UK (eg, from Amsterdam to Australia on KLM), you’ll still be covered under EU261 as the law doesn’t require you to be an EU citizen to claim compensation.
- Joseph Gamp
‘Don’t paint us as the bad guy’
A travel association has take the move to criticise the government.
The associations has hit out at the government, claiming they should not be ‘painting them as the bad guy’.
Dominic Rabb, the Deputy Prime Minister, told the BBC this morning that, the responsibility lay with the aviation and holiday sector to increase their staffing.
But Gemma Antrobus, chair of Association of Independent Tour Operators, says the situation could have been avoided if the government had provided more help.
Gemma said: “And now, when it comes into the situation that we have now, they put the thing back on us when we asked for help in the first place.”
- Joseph Gamp
EasyJet passengers share travel nightmares from Manchester Airport
One easyJet passenger tweeted a photograph shortly after 4am from Manchester Airport showing a long queue of people in a car park outside Terminal 1.
He described the situation as “carnage”, adding: “Took two hours 45 minutes to get through – most of that was bag drop. Now on the aircraft, but due to shortage of ground crew, there’s going to be another delay of approximately 50 minutes.”
Another easyJet passenger said they had to wait for two hours and 40 minutes to receive their luggage after landing at Gatwick Airport shortly before 3am.
He said this was “simply not good enough”.
- Joseph Gamp
Union says aviation firms ‘should hang their heads in shame’
Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said those in charge of UK aviation companies “should hang their heads in shame”.
She went on: “They got very rich on high profits and low pay.
“They then sacked and slashed wages for thousands of workers without a second thought during the pandemic.
“Now they are reaping what they have sown because, understandably, people don’t want to work for them anymore.”
- Joseph Gamp
TUI is STILL advertising bargain breaks despite axing 30,000 seats
TUI is still advertising its bargain breaks – despite axing holidays for more than 30,000 passengers this summer.
Customers were left furious today after spotting the airline’s ads on TV and social media as millions of Brits had their travel plans crushed.
Tui yesterday announced it would be cancelling around 43 flights a week until June 30 to prevent further problems seen at UK airports this week.
The cancellations will be to and from Manchester Airport and will affect nearly 200 flights and around 34,000 passengers.
But despite the mass destruction of plans nationwide, customers claim they are still being targeted for trips – with many spotting adverts for Tui on TV and online.
One person wrote on Twitter: “What are they still advertising on TV/Social Media for holidays right now when cancelling and ruining hundreds off peoples breaks!!!! Such a joke.”
Another said: “Big business running amok with peoples lives the same as TUI cancelling umpteen flights a day leaving holiday makers stranded but still advertising package holidays they know they can’t deliver on!”
Someone else wrote: “TUI have a cheek advertising on TV #ThisMorning.
“The companies who are cancelling holidays should be banned from advertising holidays for this year, TUI, in particular are pushing holidays thot they are clearly struggling to deliver.”
- Joseph Gamp
‘An utter shambles’ blasts furious Heathrow passengers
One passenger described Heathrow Terminal 5 as an “utter shambles”, with a “gigantic queue for security”.
A Twitter user posted an image of a queue at Manchester Airport that stretched along a car park, describing the situation as “madness”.
Another passenger at the airport said arriving travellers were waiting for more than three hours to get their luggage.
She wrote: “People have just abandoned them. We were told to come back during the week for ours.”
- Joseph Gamp
Government says airports are ‘busier than usual’
A Government spokeswoman said airports are “busier than usual” due to “an exceptionally high number of people travelling” this week.
She continued: “The aviation industry is responsible for making sure they have enough staff to meet demand and we have been clear that they must step up recruitment to make sure disruption is kept to a minimum.
“In addition, using our post-Brexit freedoms, we have changed the law to provide the sector with more flexibility when training new employees, which will help it to fill vacancies more quickly.
“We have also worked with Border Force to ensure preparations meet passenger demand.”
- Joseph Gamp
Passengers wait for eight hours to find out TUI flight to Greece is cancelled
Passengers who had waited eight hours for a flight from Manchester to Greece were told it was cancelled by an armed cop.
He read a statement saying: “What’s going to happen is this — you’re all going to get a full refund for the holiday you have purchased.
“There is also going to be a £350 per person worth of compensation. You will also get a £200 holiday voucher per person to go on another holiday.”
Steven Hession and his wife Kerrie received a text from TUI while at their Manchester airport departure gate, saying their holiday to Kos was axed due to “significant operational disruption”.
British Gas worker Steven, 45, said: “It was horrendous.”
- Joseph Gamp
Up to 2m people preparing to fly on more than 10,000 flights this weekend
Around two million Brits are preparing to fly over the next few days for the extended Bank Holiday weekend.
But punters are facing ongoing disruption with holiday giant Tui announcing it will cancel six flights a day until the end of June, affecting around 34,000 travellers in all.
According to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium, around 10,000 flights are set to leave the UK between Thursday and Sunday,
- Joseph Gamp
‘Problems could get worse’ says travel expert
Travel expert Nicky Kelvin, head of The Points Guy UK, warned: “As flights and passenger numbers increase, problems could get worse. It’s important that passengers stay regularly updated.
“It may also be worth paying for extra privileges, such as priority security lanes or access to lounges, to make the airport experience better and more efficient.”
- Louis Allwood
Staff shortages, IT issues, air traffic problems cause 'perfect storm'
One travel executive told the Financial Times: "The ecosystem works when people come when they are intended to come and join the queue."
Staff shortages, IT issues, air traffic problems and a surge of travellers post-Covid have caused a "perfect storm" of chaos for holidaymakers.
And the Jubilee Bank Holiday has been no exception.
- Louis Allwood
Urgent warning as travellers told NOT to arrive too early
HOLIDAYMAKERS have been warned to NOT arrive too early at busy airports amid the ongoing travel chaos.
Arriving at the terminal more than three hours before your flight will disrupt the "ecosystem" of the airport as travellers should only show up when they're intended to, bosses said.
This comes as Brits face the seventh day of travel chaos as people try to get away for half term and the Queen's Jubilee Bank Holiday.
As travellers have been geared up to arrive with plenty of time, others have been warned to not show up too early to the swamped airports.
People showing up at the airport six or seven hours before they're meant to is causing more issues than solving them, bosses have warned.
Tui and Ryanair are asking customers to arrive at airports three hours before – but no earlier.
- Louis Allwood
British Airways cancellations
British Airways has cancelled more than 100 flights today from London Heathrow Airport.
This includes domestic flights as well as a number of short haul flights across Europe, including:
- Algiers
- Amsterdam
- Athens
- Barcelona
- Berlin
- Bologna
- Brussels
- Bucharest
- Budapest
- Copenhagen
- Dublin
- Faro
- Frankfurt
- Geneva
- Gothenburg
- Hanover
- Hamburg
- Larnaca
- Luxembourg
- Madrid
- Malaga
- Marseille
- Milan
- Naples
- Nice
- Olbia
- Oslo
- Prague
- Rome
- Stockholm
- Tirana
- Toulouse
- Vienna
- Warsaw
- Zurich
However, these cancellations were done in advance as part of their schedule reduction until October, so passengers will have been contacted before today if their flight was affected.
The flag carrier confirmed that 16,000 flights between March and October would be cancelled to prevent short-notice cancellations.
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