BA axes another 10,000 f lights

Families could be priced out of holidays as new wave of cancellations hits European hotspots

BRITISH Airways left 2.3 million holidaymakers in the lurch last night by axing another 10,300 flights to european hotspots.

It comes after the beleaguered carrier slashed 16,000 flights in March – and means that nearly a fifth (18 per cent) of BA flights scheduled until the end of October will not go ahead.

Long‑haul flights are not affected as they are the most lucrative for the flagship carrier, meaning popular shorthaul hotspots in europe such as spain, Italy and Greece will be worst hit.

Experts last night expressed their shock at the scale of the cancellations,

‘Squeezed out by cost of living crisis’

but warned there are likely to be thousands more as the industry is gripped by staff shortages.

They also warned it will lead to many families being priced out of holidays abroad this summer amid the cost of living squeeze, as there is no guarantee there will be enough seats to book passengers on other flights.

Although travellers will be entitled to a full refund, the cost of holidays and flights has soared due to the rapidly shrinking number of spaces this summer. It means they face being priced out of last‑minute options.

The move comes ahead of an ‘amnesty’ on rules over airport slots ending tomorrow that allowed carriers to pull flights without potential penalties.

Ministers brought in the amnesty as they urged carriers to review their plans and only schedule flights that were realistically deliverable.

The Government has accused some airlines of overbooking flights after laying off thousands of workers during the pandemic.

Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: ‘some people will be squeezed out of a holiday this year because of the high cost of alternative flights and in the middle of a cost of living crisis.’

BA and easyJet have been the worst hit, with the latter having pulled more than 10,000 flights this summer. Industry analysis suggests BA has axed about 34,000 flights since January, affecting about 5.6 million passengers. The latest wave of cancellations alone will affect up to 2.3 million.

BA said: ‘While... the majority of customers will get away as planned, we don’t underestimate the impact this will have.’

The department for Transport said: ‘We expect airlines to avoid disruptive short‑notice cancellations, and balance future balance bookings with capacity to reduce cancellations to a minimum.’