Bank holistay
» Airport chaos as 175 BA flights are cancelled » But UK set to sizzle with 22C this weekend
THOUSANDS of British Airways passengers due to jet away for the half-term have had their holiday plans thrown into chaos.
The carrier cancelled 83 flights yesterday, in addition to 92 on Thursday.
Around 20,000 passengers were affected – many on short-haul routes to and from Heathrow Airport, aviation analytics company Cirium said.
However, those now staying in the UK this Bank Holiday weekend could enjoy better weather than if they had left – with lots of sunshine and barely any rain, according to the Met Office.
Highs of 22C have been forecast for much of the UK, including Greater Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff, with today tipped to be the sunniest day.
It comes as thunderstorms are predicted in Spain – one of several shorthaul destinations proving popular with half-term travellers.
Yesterday, heavy rain resulted in flash flooding in Alicante, with schools closed and roads blocked by rubble.
This week’s disruption at Heathrow was said to be caused by planes and crew being out of position after an IT glitch grounded flights on Thursday.
There were also delays to other flights, and some passengers were unable to check in online.
BA apologised for the cancellations and gave customers the option to rebook an alternative flight with them or another carrier, or request a refund.
It said the problems were not due to the strike action by security staff at Heathrow Terminal 5. But Rory Boland,
BA’s already breaking its promise to customers of no more flight chaos
RORY BOLAND TRAVEL EDITOR AT WHICH?
editor of consumer magazine Which? Travel, said: “The holiday season is only just beginning but already BA is breaking its promises to customers it would avoid a repeat of last year’s travel chaos.
“Occurrences like this are becoming all too familiar. BA has a legal responsibility to refund or reroute any passenger caught up in the chaos.
“Travellers should not be shy about enforcing their rights.”
Cirium said 3,000 flights were due to take off from UK airports yesterday – the highest number since December 20, 2019.
The Port of Dover was also busy as thousands crossed the Channel. Ferry operator DFDS said there was a wait of around an hour at border control for motorists early yesterday, while coach traffic was “free-flowing”. It came after coaches at the Kent port suffered delays of up to 17 hours during the Easter holidays, with slow processing times following Brexit blamed.
Port of Dover chief Doug Bannister said ferry operators worked with coach companies to smooth the flow of traffic.
Supermarket Asda expects to sell a record 449,000 packs of burgers over the long weekend, as people fire up the BBQ – while suncream sales are up 86%.
The RAC estimates 19.2 million leisure car trips will be made this weekend with transport data company Inrix warning journeys on parts of the M25 will take up to three times longer than normal.
Long delays are also expected on parts of the M5 and the M6.
Most rail services are expected to run normally this weekend before a series of strikes later next week.