Flight delays and cancellations will carry on “right throughout the summer” warns the boss of budget airline Ryanair. Chief executive Michael O’Leary said passengers should prepare themselves for a “less than satisfactory experience” as airports continue to suffer staff shortages.
Some airlines are cancelling up to 10 per cent of flights as delays are predicted to last across the peak holiday season. Mr O’Leary told Sky News: “This problem is going to continue particularly at airports like Gatwick and Heathrow right throughout the summer. It will be worse at weekends and better during the week.”
He admitted that it will be a “struggle through the summer”, although he said 99 per cent of Ryanair flights are departing and that its Stansted base is faring better than other UK airports. Mr O’Leary blamed the problems on shortages of airport staff across air traffic control, baggage handling and security.
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However, he warned that Ryanair was not immune to the issues, with 25 per cent of its flights delayed by air traffic control issues last weekend and a further 15 per cent by airport handling delays. He said Brexit was compounding the disruption caused as demand ramps up after pandemic restrictions were lifted, with airports unable to hire workers from abroad to fill posts.
He continued: “There are hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK that frankly British workers don’t want to do. These problems will not be resolved until we start allowing people in to do the jobs.”
The comments come after Heathrow asked airlines on Monday to cut 10 per cent of flights at two terminals, while easyJet started cancelling thousands of summer flights. The move by Heathrow affected around 5,000 passengers at Terminals 2 and 3 on approximately 30 flights.
Images emerged on Friday of a huge pile-up of passengers’ luggage amid a baggage handling IT failure to add to passenger woes with delays and cancelled flights. Other airports have reported lengthy queues to navigate security and passengers waiting hours to reclaim baggage.
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