Britons face holiday chaos at European airports
HOLIDAYMAKERS face airport travel chaos tomorrow on one of the busiest weekends of the year.
New EU security checks have left thousands facing queues of up to four hours at European airports.
Malaga, Mallorca, Lisbon, Milan, Paris-Orly, Lyon and Brussels have all been hit, leading to long delays in terminals.
Aage Duenhaupt, spokesman for trade association Airlines for Europe, said: “They are expecting one of the record days for the summer because of the changeover, where so many people are going out and so many are also going home.
“There are fears it could be chaotic. We hope with this greater understanding of this situation and A BILLIONAIRE heiress who went on a 17-hour all night drinking binge while looking after a child has been fined just £500.
Nicole Ovchinnikova, 37, started boozing after arriving at a Canary Wharf hotel in east London at 5.40pm with the child and a male friend, and was still drinking at around 10.30 the following morning.
In a police interview she admitted to sharing three bottles of wine with her friend last March, saying she was upset because her former partner was having a baby with her best friend.
Ovchinnikova, said to have once been friends with Kate Moss, later claimed she only had two glasses.
A manager said she could not walk or talk properly in the lobby at 7am, and another witness said he thought the child had not slept all night.
The child, who cannot be identified, was lying on her lap when police arrived the next morning. The Russian fashion designer verbally abused officers who said they could smell alcohol on her breath.
Ovchinnikova, of Canary Wharf, denied being drunk in charge of a child, but was found guilty at the end of a day-long trial at Stratford magistrates court on July 10.
At Thames Magistrates Court for sentencing yesterday, John Ryder, chair of the bench, told her: “It’s quite clear you were drunk.
“Presumably, had the hotel authorities been concerned they could have told you to go to bed but they didn’t, so we can deal with this by a fine.”
She was ordered to pay a £500 fine, £620 court costs and a £50 victim’s surcharge. the processes and more border control officers that things will get quicker.
“If people are developing health problems while waiting in line, that is definitely worrying.
“And families with kids, you can only imagine how distressing it must be for them.
“If nothing changes this will continue for the rest of the summer until passenger numbers drop to normal.”
Travellers now have their details checked through databases which should alert officials if they are known to pose a threat.
Brussels ordered the increased security checks in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks in which 142 people were murdered by Islamic State killers.
But severe shortages of border guards is increasing the problem and countries including France, Spain, Italy and Belgium have all come under fire for failing to predict the surge in queues over the summer months.
Mr Duenhaupt said: “The individual states wanted the European Union to put it out but now they are not doing what they should have.
“Like Christmas, summer is something that comes around every year. And you can plan for it.”
France’s interior ministry said it was boosting Paris’s main airports with 100 extra border control officers. Spanish officials are working with police to introduce new controls.
Phil Bloomfield, of internet site Cheapflights, said: “The best advice is for people to ensure they’re leaving as much time as they can to get through security, to monitor social media for any communication or reports about their departure airport and their airline – and to be ready to change their plans accordingly, and to ensure they’ve planned for a delay – especially if they are travelling with kids.
“This problem doesn’t sound like it is going away soon, but it’s impact can at least be mitigated if people prepare.”