The boss of easyJet is blaming Brexit in part for its numerous flight cancellations this summer.
Britain’s biggest budget carrier has been axing around 30-60 services a day amid staff shortages, and today announced it would be preemptively cutting hundreds more over the summer.
Rather than running 97 per cent of the pre-Covid summer programme, easyJet now expects to operate 90 per cent.
Johann Lundgren, the airline’s chief executive, told The Independent that some of the operating issues were down to difficulties hiring workers after Brexit: “The pool of people is smaller, it’s just maths.
“We have to turn down a huge number of EU nationals because of Brexit.”
The government has vehemently denied that the chaos seen at UK airports in recent months has anything to do with the country’s departure from the EU.
Last week the aviation minister, Robert Courts, told MPs on the business select committee it was “not likely” that Brexit played a part in airlines’ and airports’ chronic staff shortages.
Meanwhile, Heathrow has asked airlines flying from Terminals 2 and 3 to cancel 10 per cent of their schedules today due to mounting problems with its baggage handling.
An estimated 15,000 passengers on 90 flights will be affected.
