Air travel industry warned over Easter disruption

The UK's aviation watchdog has written to airports and airlines to express concern over the impact of staff shortages on international travel.

Thousands of people heading abroad in the run-up to Easter, some of them for the first time in two years, have faced long queues, delays and cancellations.

The Civil Aviation Authority said late-notice cancellations and "excessive" delays could hit consumer confidence.

Airports blame recruitment issues and Covid-linked absences for the delays.

Staff sickness caused by coronavirus has seen airlines including EasyJet and British Airways axe dozens of flights, while the aviation industry has struggled to recruit quickly enough after making staff redundant earlier in the pandemic.

Ken O'Toole, deputy chief executive at Manchester Airports Group, said: "The speed and the scale of recovery has caught us and it has meant we are short-staffed at the moment."

Manchester Airport has seen some of the worst disruption, with passengers describing scenes of "chaos" after several missed their flights, and warnings that emergency services staff could be drafted in to help tackle the problems.

The airport's managing director, Karen Smart, announced she would stand down following criticism of the long security queues.

But in a letter, Richard Moriarty, chief executive of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), warned late notice cancellations and "excessive" delays at airports were not only distressing for consumers but could affect confidence just when passengers were returning to flying.

He said that while firms had been working hard to recruit staff ahead of the rush for spring and summer holidays, it was clear this had not always happened fast enough to cope with the increased passenger travel.

Mr Moriarty stressed it was important airlines were fixing their schedules in a way that was deliverable given their available staff, with contingencies for staff sickness including from coronavirus.

"Where capacity is unavoidably restricted", he said, planning was needed to identify problems early so pre-emptive cancellations could be made.

"At at a minimum" passengers should be given notice so that they do not travel to airports unnecessarily, he added.

The CAA boss also reminded airlines that they were legally required to inform passengers of their rights when flights were disrupted, to provide care and assistance during the disruption and to offer a choice of refund or alternative travel.

A group of schoolchildren told the BBC how upsetting it was for their EasyJet flight from Gatwick to be cancelled, preventing them from joining their classmates on a skiing trip.

"It's really sad, because we had to get up really, really early in the morning for absolutely nothing, just to sit in the airport for about six hours, sitting next to our suitcases looking forward to something that wasn't going to happen," one of the girls said.

EasyJet apologised and offered further assistance, including a refund.

Some schools have already broken up for Easter - the first school holiday since the end of the pandemic travel restrictions - and that has fuelled the rise in demand for foreign trips.

Stansted Airport said it is expecting 240,000 travellers this Easter weekend, compared with 8,000 this time last year.

There are also warnings of delays over Easter for other modes of travel:

In addition to recruitment issues, the Airport Operators Association (AOA), which represents most UK airports, said Covid documentation checks and customers being unfamiliar with airport processes were also contributing to the delays and longer queues.

Abta, a trade association for tour operators and travel agents, said in a statement its members had reported bookings for this year were approaching 2019 levels.

"Our own research shows an increasing number of people have a foreign holiday booked for the next 12 months, up a third when compared to six months ago," it added.