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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Abigail O'Leary

Travel chaos as hundreds of flights cancelled over staff shortages due to Covid

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at Heathrow Airport due to high numbers of staff coming down with Covid.

British Airways alone has so far cancelled almost 90 flights to and from Heathrow this morning following the shortages, Good Morning Britain has reported.

Travellers have taken to Twitter to express their frustration. as some passengers report being given only 10-minutes notice for a 10-hour flight delay.

Over the weekend, EasyJet cancelled more than 200 flights, leaving passengers stranded across a number of airports.

An easyJet spokesperson said yesterday: “As a result of the current high rates of Covid infections across Europe, like all businesses easyJet is experiencing higher than usual levels of employee sickness.

Travellers have taken to Twitter to express their frustration. Some passengers report being given only 10-minutes notice for a 10-hour flight delay (NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"We have taken action to mitigate this through the rostering of additional standby crew this weekend, however, with the current levels of sickness we have also decided to make some cancellations in advance which were focused on consolidating flights where we have multiple frequencies so customers have more options to rebook their travel, often on the same day."

It comes as Extinction Rebellion protestors block the entrance to an oil facility near Heathrow Airport this morning, adding to already chaotic scenes at the airport.

The move, in which about 30 protestors have blocked an Esso West oil facility, marks a fourth day of London action by the climate activism group.

Some passengers report being given only 10-minutes notice for a 10-hour flight delay (PA)
Over the weekend, EasyJet cancelled more than 200 flights, leaving passengers stranded across a number of airports (Getty Images)

Reuters reported that Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil began action on Friday to target oil terminals and refineries across the UK, ahead of mass protests scheduled to take place in London on April 9.

Extinction Rebellion activist Andrew Smith said: "We’re here to say that climate action cannot wait. Right now, governments are choosing to exploit the crisis in Ukraine to hand out oil licences and continue the fossil fuel economy that’s destroying us."

Over 80 activists were arrested for blocking oil terminals across east London on Saturday (April 2).

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