The nation is currently plagued by airport chaos and disruption with 1,143 flights cancelled in the past week. Passengers have been warned to expect flight cancellations caused by staff shortages to continue.
UK flights have been axed in recent days due to crews being off sick amid a rise in coronavirus cases, while experts also said airlines and airports are struggling because of the number of job cuts made during the pandemic.
Aviation data firm Cirium said 1,143 UK flights were cancelled last week, compared with just 197 during the same period in 2019. The vast majority of last week’s cancellations were by easyJet and British Airways.
Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy The PC Agency, said: “This is a staggering level of flight cancellations caused by a cocktail of not having enough staff in place and Covid-induced staff shortages. Airlines are certainly seeing a high level of demand to fly, but are simply unable to cope with that demand due to a lack of resources. It’s a nightmare situation for airlines and airports at the moment.”
Passengers at Heathrow, Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham airports have also reported long queues in recent days with some travellers missing flights because of the chaos. Travel agents have reported that customers are asking for flight tickets to be transferred to hubs not reporting any issues.
Here are some of the alternatives:
Liverpool John Lennon Airport
Aviation analytics company Cirium has reported more flights depart on time from Liverpool than from any other airport in England. Data collected by Cirium during 2021 highlights that 90.23 per cent of all flights departed within 15 minutes of their scheduled time - accepted as being on time within the aviation industry.
Liverpool topped the performance table when compared with other airports in England and only just behind the UK’s best performing airports of Belfast International and George Best Belfast City. Airlines operating from Liverpool include Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air, Loganair and Lufthansa to destinations in Spain, Turkey, Germany, Norway and East European cities.
Doncaster Robin Hood Airport
Most holiday destinations are served from Doncaster Robin Hood Airport, with TUI flights making up much of the airline traffic. Robin Hood Airport is the UK’s fastest growing airport outside of London, operating flights to a broad range of more than 40 worldwide destinations.
Flights go to Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia, Turkey and USA. The airport - formerly RAF Finningley - has one of the country's longest runways dating from its use as a former long-range nuclear bomber base and was designated a Space Shuttle emergency landing site.
Teesside Airport
Teesside Airport boasts that its "cutting-edge security equipment makes for a quick and easy security experience. You don't even have to remove your liquids or electricals from your bag." No-frills airline Ryanair operates twice-weekly flights to Majorca and Faro alongside its year-round service to Alicante.
A weekly service to Corfu also begins on June 3. Balkan Holidays is also introducing its Bulgaria route at the start of June and TUI, the UK’s biggest tour operator, will launch its flights to Majorca on May 10.
Norwich Airport
Airlines Blue Islands, Loganair, TUI and KLM operate routes from the airport located just outside the city. There are refreshment facilities for passengers, who are advsied to arrive up to three hours before any international flights.
Cardiff Airport
There are more than 50 destinations served directly from Cardiff. Low cost airline Wizz Air UK launches its base operation to nine holiday destinations in Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Spain later this month.
The airport’s newcomer will add to the existing network offered by TUI, to more than 20 destinations across the traditional Mediterranean hotspots as well as to the Canary Islands, Croatia, Tunisia and Turkey. Improved global links will be available from May 24 when KLM increases flights to its Amsterdam hub, making it easier for passengers to connect to far-flung points like Las Vegas, New York, Toronto, Bangkok, Dubai and Aruba.
Our two other low-cost airlines Ryanair and Vueling are offering flights to six European destinations this summer.
Bournemouth Airport
No-frills carrier Ryanair is operating to 14 routes from the south coast hub this summer. TUI also serves the airport with a host of flights to traditional Mediterranean hotspots, such asSpain (Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Majorca, Menorca, Tenerife), Greece (Corfu, Crete, Kefalonia, Rhodes, Zante), Cyprus (Paphos), and Turkey (Antalya, Dalaman).
East Midlands Airport
More than 250,000 passengers are expected to travel through the airport during the Easter break. Airlines Ryanair, Jet2.com, TUI, Flybe, Aurigny and Blue Islands will fly to more than 50 destinations this year, including Bulgaria, the Channel Islands, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Spain (and the Canaries and Balearics), Turkey and the Republic of Ireland.
A further boost for passenger choice, is Ryanair's route to Marseille launching on May 2 while Jet2 s adding Izmir to its list of Turkish destinations from May 3.
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