Brits travelling this Easter have been met with chaos and warned of worse ahead as hundreds of flights are cancelled, roads are set for gridlock and major P&O Ferries routes are in crisis.
Staff shortages at airports, combined with millions of Brits hitting the road and doubts cast over the Dover-Callais ferry route, have all contributed to what could be record traffic this bank holiday weekend.
After two years of interrupted or cancelled Easter plans, Brits are once again free to hit the road to grab some rays or head out on holiday.
However dozens of flights have already been cancelled due to staff shortages, with airlines struggling to cope as Covid further thins number.
Alongside that, the RAC estimates that between Good Friday and Easter Monday Brits will take 21.5million leisure trips, choking up roads.
And for anyone hoping to escape Britain for a holiday in France or Europe, a second P&O ferry has been detained because of safety issues, with the company admitting they won’t sail again until Friday at the earliest.
AIRPORT CHAOS
Brits trying to escape on their Easter holidays have been met with chaotic scenes at major airports including Heathrow, Manchester and Birmingham as they're hit with staff shortages caused by Covid.
Some passengers ended up queuing for up to four hours last weekend, as data from aviation analytics firm Cirium said over 1,143 flights were cancelled over the past week alone.
This included EasyJet cancelling over 200 flights as well as British Airways slashing a number of their flights too.
The chaos is largely down to massive staff shortages. Many airports cut staff numbers during the pandemic by laying off workers due to reduced demand.
But now as demand surges once more, they find themselves unable to cope with the greater numbers.
Further adding to the perfect storm, the recent resurgence of Covid numbers in the UK has further worsened staff shortages.
Manchester Airport is one of the most publicly hit as recent weeks have seen customers waiting for hours on end, missing flights, abandoning baggage and even queuing out into the car park .
Paul Charles, CEO 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."
This comes as union bosses warned that the coming summer will be even worse than this Easter.
Lucy Moreton, from the Immigration Services Union, warned of a “very difficult summer” to come.
P&O VESSELS SUSPENDED
A second P&O Ferries vessel has been detained, casting further doubts on whether the firm will be able to reopen its Dover-Calais route before Easter.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said that one of the company’s ferries failed a safety inspection after they identified several issues.
This comes after P&O Ferries sacked nearly 800 of its staff, and replaced them with cheaper agency workers last month.
In the aftermath they suspended its services on the Dover-Calais route.
The firm said the route would remain closed until at least Good Friday but the latest MCA decision could push it back further.
A spokesman for the agency said: "The Spirit of Britain has been detained due to surveyors identifying a number of deficiencies which were grounds for detention.
"We have advised P&O to invite us back once they have addressed the issues. We do not know yet when this will be."
The agency did not specify what the issues were.
Pride of Kent - another vessel used on the Dover-Calais route - remains under detention.
The suspension of cross-Channel sailings by P&O Ferries means there is a shortage of capacity on the Dover-Calais route.
This has contributed to large queues of lorries on the roads approaching the Port of Dover.
RECORD ROAD TRAFFIC
This weekend the RAC has warned that Brits could take an estimated 21.5million leisure trips, a record high since the organisation began tracking Easter plans in 2014.
Good Friday is expected to be the busiest day as people try to make the most of the first restriction-free Easter in years.
Potentially record traffic comes as fuel prices continue to rise with the average cost of a litre of petrol at 161.9p at the beginning of this month, and diesel at 176p.
Traffic information supplier Inrix highlighted a number of potential congestion hotspots:
-
M6 north between junction 26 (Orrell Interchange, Greater Manchester) and junction 36 (the Lake District)
-
M25 clockwise from junction 8 (Reigate Hill Interchange, Surrey) to junction 16 (Denham Interchange, Buckinghamshire)
-
A303 near Stonehenge, Wiltshire
-
M6 south from junction 20 (Lymm Interchange) to junction 16 (Stoke-on-Trent)
-
M3 from junction 14 (Chilworth Interchange) to junction seven (Basingstoke West)
Large queues are also expected on roads in Kent due to the delays in cross-Channel sailings because of P&O’s ongoing chaos.
RAC traffic spokesman Rod Dennis said: "After two years of relatively quiet Easter bank holidays on the roads, our research suggests a return to traffic levels that are much more typical of this time of year.
"It's very possible this weekend could turn out to be one of the busiest for leisure journeys for many years.
"Add in the impact of disruption on the rail network and one of the biggest fixtures of the sporting calendar taking place this weekend, and you have all the ingredients needed for problems on the roads.
"Traffic volumes will likely be even higher if some warm spring sunshine makes an appearance."
