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 36 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…
- Milica Cosic
Travel chiefs admit flights may NOT take off in July
SUMMER holiday plans for millions of Brits are up in the air after travel chiefs admitted they cannot even guarantee flights in July.
TUI, Europe’s biggest tourism firm, is cancelling six flights a day for the rest of June amid fears airport chaos could now last the entire summer.
Around two million people are set to fly over the Jubilee bank holiday weekend but yesterday saw yet more chaos at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Bristol.
EasyJet cancelled 42 flights at Gatwick while British Airways continued to scrap dozens more.
Tui Airways announced it will cancel 180 flights a month from Manchester through June — six every day.
- Milica Cosic
Why is there travel chaos?
Tui Airways has been forced to cancel nearly 200 flights over the coming month as Brit holidaymakers have been struck by widespread chaos at UK airports.
Passengers have suffered long delays recently due to staff shortages.
A number of destinations have been hit, including Spain’s Canary Islands.
Other airlines have also been axing flights with passengers forced to wait in line at airports including Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick and Bristol.
While the problem has been doing on for a number of months, the issue has worsened lately with a rise in demand sparked by the half-term school holiday and the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic.
- Milica Cosic
Gatwick wait ‘inhumane’
A MUM described waiting conditions at Gatwick as “inhumane” after she and her family were stranded at the airport for 22 hours.
Charlie Day, 33, with her husband Lewis and son Ernie, five, found their first flight to Barcelona last Friday on Vueling was overbooked.
The next flight, due to leave at 9.45pm, was first delayed and then cancelled at 1.30am.
Charlie, of Chelmsford, Essex, said: “There was no access to food, water or even a toilet. And everyone had been waiting around for so long.
“When we first arrived there was a bit of queueing but nothing too crazy. But when flights started getting cancelled it became packed.”
After staying at a nearby hotel the family flew out at 9am on Saturday, after another 45-minute delay
- Milica Cosic
British Airways cancellations
British Airways has cancelled more than 100 flights, but these were cancelled in advance as part of their schedule reduction until October.
The flag carrier confirmed that 16,000 flights between March and October would be cancelled to prevent short-notice cancellations.
Domestic flights affected include a number of routes across Scotland, as well as Manchester and Newcastle.
Many Europe destinations have been affected as well.
In the last week, 538 flights leaving the UK have been cancelled, says data firm Cirium.
A further two million passengers are due to fly on 10,800 flights over the Jubilee Bank Holiday but they face more late cancellations.
The aviation industry estimates more than four millions jobs have been lost since the start of the pandemic.
- Milica Cosic
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.
- Milica Cosic
Airports busy already
Holidaymakers and commuters flying from Bristol encountered lengthy queues outside the terminal building and flight delays once again as the Jubilee break begun yesterday.
Manchester Airport early yesterday morning also saw massive queues wind its way round T2 as passengers waited patiently to get through to airside.
Bristol has recently been ranked as one of the worst airports according to a new study. The ranking of the UK’s best and worst airports was put together by a national newspaper.
- Milica Cosic
Love Island bosses on high alert due to travel chaos
LOVE Island bosses are on high alert to “adapt” the show if Britain’s travel chaos scuppers their planned flights to and from Majorca.
Host Laura Whitmore flies multiple times throughout the series to present from the main villa on the Balearic isle as well as from a studio in London for spin-off show Aftersun.
And fresh Islanders arrive throughout the ITV2 show’s run, which can be as long as eight weeks.
But ITV confirmed they were ready to handle the mayhem, which has been caused by Easyjet and TUI axing flights over staff shortages.
A show source said: “It’s less than ideal but the team is ready to adapt if they need to.”
- Milica Cosic
Labour accuses Government of being ‘missing in action’
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh accused the Government of being “missing in action”.
“Tory ministers can’t even get the basics right,” she said.
“They should show some responsibility, do their job, and take concrete steps to tackle the chaos growing on their watch.”
- Milica Cosic
Grant Shapps tells airlines to stop selling tickets for flights they can’t staff
Britain’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has told airlines to stop selling tickets for flights they cannot staff after a spate of airline cancellations caused widespread disruption for holidaymakers.
Airports across Europe have struggled to cope with the rebound in demand but British airports are facing a particularly difficult week as a school half-term holiday combines with a long Jubilee public holiday weekend.
Airports faced similar queues over the Easter vacation, and Shapps said that while some steps had been taken, there had not been the progress that is needed.
“We need to make sure there is no repeat of the scenes witnessed over the last few days. Despite government warnings, operators seriously oversold flights and holidays relative to their capacity to deliver,” Shapps said.
“This must not happen again and all efforts should be directed at there being no repeat of this over the summer.”
- Milica Cosic
EasyJet passengers share travel nightmares from Manchester Airport
One easyJet passenger tweeted a photograph shortly after 4am on Wednesday 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".
- Milica Cosic
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."
- Louis Allwood
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.”
- Louis Allwood
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”.
- Louis Allwood
British Airways cancellations
British Airways has cancelled more than 100 flights, but these were cancelled in advance as part of their schedule reduction until October.
The flag carrier confirmed that 16,000 flights between March and October would be cancelled to prevent short-notice cancellations.
Domestic flights affected include a number of routes across Scotland, as well as Manchester and Newcastle.
Many Europe destinations have been affected as well.
In the last week, 538 flights leaving the UK have been cancelled, says data firm Cirium.
A further two million passengers are due to fly on 10,800 flights over the Jubilee Bank Holiday but they face more late cancellations.
The aviation industry estimates more than four millions jobs have been lost since the start of the pandemic.
- Louis Allwood
Flights cancelled by Easyjet on June 2 from Gatwick
- Agadir
- Alicante
- Basel
- Belfast City
- Berlin
- Bologna
- Budapest
- Copenhagen
- Gibraltar
- Glasgow
- Krakow
- Madrid
- Marseille
- Milan Malpensa
- Montpellier
- Munich
- Nice
- Prague
The airline said it is proactively cancelling 240 flights in the 10 days to 6 June, giving passengers some advance notice.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “EasyJet will operate around 1,700 flights carrying around a quarter of a million customers each day over the bank holiday weekend, with a small proportion cancelled in advance and customers informed last week with options to rebook or receive a refund.
"We are sorry for any inconvenience for affected customers.”
- Louis Allwood
'We were stuck on 12-HOUR easyJet flight & then ended up back where we started'
A GROUP of more than 50 pensioners were stuck on a 12-hour easyJet flight – only to end up back where they started.
The pensioners, aged between 75 and 92, were hoping to fly off to the Isle of Man from Gatwick on their first holiday since lockdown.
ut their flight had to land in Manchester due to high winds and after a three and a half hour wait it was cancelled and they were flown back to Gatwick.
Despite other flights making it to the Isle of Man, after a 90-minute wait at Gatwick they were told there was no hotel accommodation for them and the next flight was in three days time.
So the whole group was forced to cancel their £675 a head trip.
To add insult to injury, EasyJet said they wouldn't refund the flight cost as the wind was out of their control.
- Louis Allwood
Brits saying the same thing
BRITS are all saying the same thing as holiday firms are still selling cheap holidays despite the ongoing travel disruption.
Travel firm 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 announced it would be cancelling around 43 flights a week until June 30 to prevent further problems seen at UK airports this week.
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.”
- Louis Allwood
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.”
- Louis Allwood
Fears for summer flight chaos
SPANISH air traffic controllers could heap more misery on UK by striking this summer.
Staff will decide whether to announce industrial action at an assembly at the end of June in Barcelona, sources at air traffic controllers’ union USCA have told Spanish press.
There has not yet been any official announcement from the union, which claims to represent more than 90 per cent of air traffic controllers in Spain.
But national spokesman Susana Romero confirmed overnight the possibility of a strike was on the cards in comments she made to respected Majorcan newspaper Diario de Mallorca.
A Spanish air traffic controllers strike would heap extra pressure on British holidaymakers, who are already struggling with extreme delays and cancellations before even leaving the UK.
The strike centres around USCA complaints about staff levels as the number of travellers returns to pre-Covid 19 pandemic levels.
They say staff who have retired have not always been replaced and new air traffic controllers were not trained up during the coronavirus pandemic because of the cancellation of training courses.
They claim that the number of air traffic controllers in the Balearic Islands – which include Majorca and Ibiza and is one of the most popular destinations for British tourists – was “insufficient” for the summer.
- Milica Cosic
British Airways cancellations
British Airways has cancelled more than 100 flights, but these were cancelled in advance as part of their schedule reduction until October.
The flag carrier confirmed that 16,000 flights between March and October would be cancelled to prevent short-notice cancellations.
Domestic flights affected include a number of routes across Scotland, as well as Manchester and Newcastle.
Many Europe destinations have been affected as well.
In the last week, 538 flights leaving the UK have been cancelled, says data firm Cirium.
A further two million passengers are due to fly on 10,800 flights over the Jubilee Bank Holiday but they face more late cancellations.
The aviation industry estimates more than four millions jobs have been lost since the start of the pandemic.
- Milica Cosic
Full list of UK flights cancelled today
BRITS hoping to get away for the long Bank Holiday weekend face another day of travel chaos as flight cancellations continue.
The UK’s biggest budget airline Easyjet has cancelled at least 36 domestic and European flights on Thursday from London Gatwick.
Flights cancelled by Easyjet on June 2 from Gatwick
- Agadir
- Alicante
- Basel
- Belfast City
- Berlin
- Bologna
- Budapest
- Copenhagen
- Gibraltar
- Glasgow
- Krakow
- Madrid
- Marseille
- Milan Malpensa
- Montpellier
- Munich
- Nice
- Prague
- Milica Cosic
Gatwick wait ‘inhumane’
A MUM described waiting conditions at Gatwick as “inhumane” after she and her family were stranded at the airport for 22 hours.
Charlie Day, 33, with her husband Lewis and son Ernie, five, found their first flight to Barcelona last Friday on Vueling was overbooked.
The next flight, due to leave at 9.45pm, was first delayed and then cancelled at 1.30am.
Charlie, of Chelmsford, Essex, said: “There was no access to food, water or even a toilet. And everyone had been waiting around for so long.
“When we first arrived there was a bit of queueing but nothing too crazy. But when flights started getting cancelled it became packed.”
After staying at a nearby hotel the family flew out at 9am on Saturday, after another 45-minute delay
- Milica Cosic
Travel chiefs admit flights may NOT take off in July
SUMMER holiday plans for millions of Brits are up in the air after travel chiefs admitted they cannot even guarantee flights in July.
TUI, Europe’s biggest tourism firm, is cancelling six flights a day for the rest of June amid fears airport chaos could now last the entire summer.
Around two million people are set to fly over the Jubilee bank holiday weekend but yesterday saw yet more chaos at Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Bristol.
EasyJet cancelled 42 flights at Gatwick while British Airways continued to scrap dozens more.
Tui Airways announced it will cancel 180 flights a month from Manchester through June — six every day.
- Milica Cosic
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.
- Milica Cosic
Why is there travel chaos?
Tui Airways has been forced to cancel nearly 200 flights over the coming month as Brit holidaymakers have been struck by widespread chaos at UK airports.
Passengers have suffered long delays recently due to staff shortages.
A number of destinations have been hit, including Spain’s Canary Islands.
Other airlines have also been axing flights with passengers forced to wait in line at airports including Manchester, Heathrow, Gatwick and Bristol.
While the problem has been doing on for a number of months, the issue has worsened lately with a rise in demand sparked by the half-term school holiday and the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday weekend.
The aviation industry is suffering from staff shortages after letting thousands of people go during the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Read Full Article
