Brits warned of complete travel chaos when school summer holidays start
CHAOS at airports across the UK is showing no signs of easing, with fears of even more travel disruption when the school holidays start.
Passengers are still being forced to wait hours at the airport, with many waiting outside of the terminal, despite it being during the off peak season.
And with schools due to break up in two weeks, there are fears that the problems will worsen as millions head abroad this summer.
Passengers have complained on social media this morning of the ongoing problems.
One person at Manchester Airport tweeted: "What's going on at Terminal 3 security? A Tuesday morning, out of term time, and we're snaking in a queue for miles."
Another added: "More absolute mayhem @manairport terminal 3, absolute s******w once again. How many weeks did you say you would take to sort this nonsense out?"
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A third also said they were forced to queue in the car park when they arrived at the terminal.
It's not just Manchester Airport - one Heathrow passenger wrote: "Security lines are very long and getting longer so plan ahead today. They are at a standstill and wrapped around."
However, airport bosses from both Manchester and Heathrow claimed that while there were some queues, the majority of people were able to get through the airport in around 30 minutes.
Staff shortages have already been leading to queues at security and check in desks at airports across the UK as the travel industry picks up after Covid pandemic lockdowns.
It comes as airlines have until Friday to take advantage of a government “amnesty” to the rules on airport slots, allowing airlines to change schedules without facing a potential penalty.
Government ministers told airlines to review their flights after the May half term chaos, which was blamed on a shortage of airline and airport staff.
And Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey today told Sky News: "Airports and airlines released a lot of people after the furlough scheme had come to an end.
"Perhaps they did not anticipate the desire for people to get out of the country.
"It matters that airlines have confidence flights can be delivered and passengers know well in advance if their flights is cancelled. "
BA’s flights from Heathrow Airport are likely to bear the brunt of cancellations this week.
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British Airways has already cancelled 16,000 flights until October, with another 650 scrapped next month.
And easyJet, TUI and Lufthansa have all been forced to cancel thousands of flights in recent days.
