Now another 155 flights grounded
More cancellations as airport chaos continues
FAMILIES have had more travel misery heaped on them as two airlines axed an additional 155 flights yesterday.
As holidaymakers geared up for a bank holiday getaway, British Airways announced it was scrapping 124 flights from Heathrow.
And easyJet dumped 31 flights from Gatwick, leaving hundreds of despairing passengers at the departure gate.
Accountant Alice Emery, 28, and her electrician husband Alan, 31, of Southampton, told of the chaos at South Terminal as they prepared to board a 5.55am easyJet flight to Venice yesterday. She said: “We had got through security when instead of saying ‘go to gate’ it said ‘help at gate’. We went down and there was a massive queue and at least three flights had been cancelled.
“There were no easyJet staff there at all. We were just shunted through to arrivals.
“Again, there were no staff to say where to get your bags from.” The firm did not respond when asked for a comment.
Tui had already announced it was wiping six flights a day from timetables until June 30 at Manchester airport, where people were queueing at 4am yesterday.
But there was heartbreak in Cardiff too as the firm scrapped a package holiday to Tenerife by text message and email as the passengers were strapped into their seats ready for take-off.
Children – including a terminally ill little girl – burst into tears as they were told their trip had been cancelled. Huw Davies, 59, of Porthcawl, South Wales, boarded the flight on Tuesday with 11 other relatives for a “special holiday” for his daughter, who has incurable cancer.
He said: “It was going to be her last family holiday - and we just got booted off.”
Initially, passengers were told the flight was delayed as the plane that had flown in from Alicante, Spain, needed to have a malfunctioning part fixed.
Police were called on Sunday after passengers were “abandoned” on a Tui plane on the tarmac at Manchester Airport for three hours. Adam Wyczalkowski, 22, said: “There was not a member of staff in sight”.
Lucy Hollister, 24, of nearby Sale, faced a seven-hour delay at the airport on Saturday, getting to the departure gate only to be told by a police officer that there was no pilot.
Tui apologised to passengers, blaming “ongoing challenges in our operation”.
The aviation industry is dealing with acute staff shortages after letting thousands of workers go during the pandemic.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab accused airlines of a “lack of preparation”, while the Lib Dems called for the Government to draft in the army to help out.