Travel chaos ahead for half-term getaway
HOLIDAYMAKERS could face a weekend of travel chaos as the half-term getaway begins.
Dozens of flights were delayed at Manchester Airport yesterday, while families eCmabpatriokninghognhghhalgf-h term getaways ghgh also faced gh ghgh long gh
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Thousands of Liverpool supporters descended on the Kent port to board cross-Channel ferries en route to Paris for Saturday’s Champions League final. There is also high demand for sailings from families embarking on trips to the continent for half-term.
There was also been long delays on dozens of flights from Manchester Airport, according to air traffic monitoring website FlightRadar24. Flights from airlines including Ryanair, Tui, Jet2, easyjet and Turkish Airlines, faced delays of more than an hour, with several delayed by more two hours.
Liverpool John Lennon Airport was also busy with football supporters flying to Paris. There are scheduled to be 24 flights from the airport to the French capital this week with capacity for a total of 4,674 passengers, according to aviation data firm Cirium.
Meanwhile, the RAC issued a warning over congestion on motorways and major A roads as an estimated 17.9 million leisure trips by road will be made between Friday and Sunday, with Saturday the busiest day.
Spokesman Rod Dennis said: “Major routes to holiday destinations will start to clog up. Drivers can beat the worst of the queues by planning the time of their trips carefully.
“An early start is always best or, failing that, driving at dusk if that’s a feasible option.”
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is also set to strike this weekend, causing major disruption for travel in the north.
Operator TransPennine Express (TPE) is urging people to not travel, or at least plan ahead, as only a small number of trains will be running.